From the Beginning
by wildfiregirl04
Summary: Bella gets amnesia and can't remember anything about her life. With this, she decides to move to Jacksonville, a sunny place where Edward isn't. Will their love survive? Or will it fade away into the depths of nothingness? Only time will tell...
1. Chapter 1

SUMMARY: Bella wakes up in the hospital after the fight with James, but can't remember anything in her life. She only remembers coming to live in Forks and hating it immensely. With no knowledge of why she stayed in Forks for as long as she had, she then makes the decision to leave. What will Edward do to try and make the love of his existence stay and love him back?

**Title: From the Beginning**

**Chapter 1: Utterly Hopeless**

_A/N: I don't own anything about Twilight. I only wish I could be that creative…_

_Note: Italicized words are thoughts from the person of the titled section unless otherwise specified._

**Bella Swan**

Bella opened her eyes to see the familiar décor of a hospital room. She moaned as the searing pain in her ribs protested her attempt to sit up. Glancing down at her leg she noticed a bulky cast holding it firmly in place. _What have I done this time?_ Bella asked stupidly of herself.

When she tried to remember what caused her to be in this room with the tacky wallpaper and the carnations lining the window, her head throbbed. The last thing she could remember was staring out her window at Charlie's house in the dreary town of Forks, sulking as the rain poured down harder and harder. Bella could remember why she made the stupid decision to move to Forks. Renée had just got married to Phil and Bella really didn't like being around the newly married couple. It was just easier for Bella to relocate herself and be miserable somewhere else where Charlie didn't visit her room every five minutes to check on her.

But no matter how hard she racked her brain for the reason why she stayed so long, she couldn't think. Just like in Phoenix she had little friends. Sure in Forks her friends were nicer than any other friends she'd had, but she just wasn't happy. All her friends had quirks that were too much for Bella to handle and she felt bad about being so judgmental. Jessica was too talkative, Mike was too pushy, Lauren was too mean, and Angela – as nice as she was – was too quiet. No one in Forks seemed right. But there was one person… Why couldn't Bella remember anything?

Now, as the familiar sounds of the hospital room filled through the sterile air, Bella took a moment to look around. There was nothing particularly abnormal about the scene. The same off-white walls accented the cream colored curtains covered in dust. The stupid machine to Bella's left was beeping with every beat of her heart. The foldable chair at the side of her bed suggested that she had a visitor while she was asleep. Another typical hospital room for a clumsy girl.

Then Bella's attention zeroed in on the plush gray loveseat in the far corner of the room. The corner was dark and it was hard to make out the figure, but Bella could make out a person in the chair. She squinted her eyes to see who the person was. The person stirred in their sleep and then their eyes darted open.

The person crossed the distance from the chair to the bed within two seconds and stood by Bella and clasped onto her hand. "Oh, Bella, I'm so happy to see your eyes open again."

Bella blinked fervently as she tried to remember knowing this glorious face. His facial features were perfect in every meaning of the word. His eyes were a creamy caramel color and his hair was a strange bronze shade that glittered in the artificial hospital light. Bella tried to muster a smile to hide her discomfort only the act did not come. She slid her hand out of this man's frozen one and inched away from him on the bed in pain. "Bella?" the man questioned with a panicked voice.

She turned her head slightly and crossed her arms lightly over her chest. That was when she saw the white gauze wrapped tightly around her wrist. She stroked the gauze curiously and tried to remember how she got in this room. "How are you feeling?" the man asked her as he took his place in the foldable chair by the bed.

Bella kept her gaze down on the bandage as she said, "Sore." _Why can't I remember anything that happened to me? And who was this god-like man caring so deeply about my health?_

The man's musical laughter rang beautifully through the dreary room as he kept his glorious eyes fixed on Bella's face. "I was afraid I wouldn't see those beautiful brown eyes again, love."

"Love?" she asked, frightened by his words. What wasn't she remembering about her life?

"Of course, Bella." His chuckled softly to himself before he gently took her bandaged hand within his own hands and lightly pressed his marble lips to the back of it. "It's Edward," he teasingly said as he ran the tip of his nose along the smooth of her hand.

"Edward?" Nothing was ringing a bell and she so desperately wanted to know what was going on, why there was a breathtakingly gorgeous man calling her _love_ and kissing her hand.

Now Edward looked up at her with pained eyes as he kept his hold on her hand. He eyed her skeptically for any sign of Bella's heartbreaking joke to show through, but nothing came. She was being serious. "Bella, it's me," he pleaded her to remember. "Don't play around."

"Who's playing?" she asked him coldly as she yanked her hand from his grasp once again while a hiss ripped through her lips from the painful motion. The inside of her wrist protested in pain and her ribs screeched for that action not to be repeated. Bella turned her gaze to look at all the flowers that were lining the window and for once in her life she wanted the doctor to come in this instant and save her from this awkward moment.

She could still feel Edward's confused and aching eyes watching her. The room suddenly became very small and cramped. "Bella?" he asked again, his ringing voice getting caught within a sob. Edward was quickly realizing that Bella really didn't know who he was. She wouldn't pretend about something like this. She was much too aggressive to show her emotions for him. Edward longed for Bella's lack of self-control and aggressive behavior.

But Bella did not turn her eyes back to his. All she wanted to do was try and remember who this man was and know why he was in her room. It just didn't make any sense to her. _How could a man this gorgeous care anything about boring me?_

"Do you know why I'm here?" she asked him slowly, not really wanting to initiate more conversation. The only thing she wanted was to know why she was in this hospital room and at the moment Edward was the only person capable of giving answers.

"You don't remember?" he asked in her a small voice. If Bella didn't know what happened, then he couldn't tell her what happened. It would freak her out and she would call him crazy. The last thing that Edward wanted was for Bella to think he was truly an insane person, and worse: a liar.

But before Bella could respond or Edward could tell her what happened, Renée was rushing through the door and plopping down heavily at her daughter's side. "Oh Bella!" she gushed as she threw her arms around Bella's neck and sobbed into her neck.

"Ow! Mom! This hurts," Bella bellowed as soon as Renée plopped down on the bed too hard to make Bella's broken leg jostle too much.

"Sorry sweetie," Renée apologized as she unhooked herself from Bella's grasp and straightened up in the bed. She shot Edward a glance signaling she wanted him to leave, but only found him back in the loveseat with his eyes closed, pretending to sleep. "How are you feeling?" Renée asked as she turned her attention back to her daughter.

"Like hell," Bella admitted with a chuckle that only made her chest ache with more pain. There wasn't anything safe that she could do that wouldn't cause her body physical pain. "Mom, what happened? Where am I? And why are you in Forks?"

"Honey, you're not in Forks," Renée said calmly as she patted her daughter's good hand lightly.

Bella's brow furrowed as she tried to comprehend the information her mother had just given her. "What do you mean? I thought I moved to Forks? Or was that just a horrible nightmare I made up?" Out of the corner of Bella's eye she could see Edward's body stiffened with more pain at the words she just said.

"Bella, sweetie, you're in Phoenix." Renée could tell that Bella would need more reminding than that so she continued. "You yelled at your father and said that you hated Forks and you couldn't take one more minute there. So you got on a plane and went back to Phoenix. Since no one was in the house you decided to stay in a hotel until you could call me and have me come back home. But while you were in the hotel you tripped down two flights of stairs and out a window! Bella, how could you be that clumsy?"

Bella's eyes widened at the explanation that was just given to her. _That does sound like something I would do_, she thought depressingly about herself. But for some reason, that just didn't sound like what really happened to her. She knew where the hidden key to her mother's house was. She certainly enjoyed being alone. And even if she didn't want to be in Forks anymore, she wouldn't just leave randomly on a spur of hormones acting like a child. She never would hurt Charlie by yelling at him. _What is going on with my memory?_ "That does sound like me," she finally admitted with an edge of boredom.

For some reason her eyes kept flickering to the curious boy in the corner. What was he doing here? Why had he called her love? Why did he look so depressingly sad when she didn't know who he was? How did she even know him to begin with? Renée noticed Bella's wondrous eyes and a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "He's a lovely boy, Bella."

"Huh?" she snapped out of her never-ending stream of questions and looked at her mother.

"He never left this room while you were away from us," Renée informed her daughter as the smile she was trying desperately to hide cracked her face hugely.

Bella looked over at Edward's sleeping form once more and then let out a remorseful sigh. "Who is he?"

Renée's face faltered and her hold on Bella's good hand ceased. She folded her hands in her lap and let out an exasperated sigh. "You don't remember him at all, sweetie?"

Again, Bella absently began stroking at the gauze wrapped tightly around her wrist. She wasn't sure what damage she had done to her wrist in order for the gauze to be in place, but she didn't care at the moment. For some reason, stroking it made her feel connected to something that she lost. What she lost, she wasn't sure of. "No," she finally whispered. "He just came over here and called me 'love' and kissed my hand and was all concerned about how I was feeling. I don't even recognize his face, or the name, or anything about him. He seems so peculiar."

As if she could tell Edward was listening, Bella lowered her voice to a whisper, although Edward could still hear her as if she were shouting. "I wish I could remember who he is. Those eyes…when he could tell I didn't know who he was…they looked so pained. Almost as if someone had forced him to walk on hot coals."

"Oh, Bella," Renée gushed again. She couldn't bare to see her daughter in pain; it was a strange sight to see, Bella vulnerable and hurt while Renée had to be the strong mother for once. Renée was so struck by the confusing turn of events that all she could think to do was hug Bella. Only the last time she hugged her daughter, Bella had cried in pain. "I wish I could hug you, but I don't want to hurt you."

"I think I can endure the pain, Mom," Bella fibbed as she leaned forward – ignoring the screams of fire torturing her rib cage – and welcomed Renée's warm arms around her weakened body. She felt so broken – inside and outside. Bella wasn't sure if what really happened to her was an accidental tumble out a window or if it was something much bigger, but she knew that her heart was aching. Aching for what was the question she couldn't answer. Could it be for this strange yet kind and gorgeous Edward, sleeping peacefully in the corner of her hospital room? Or could it be for some other beau that she couldn't place within her memory? So many questions lurked within her mind that had no answers. It was as if her mind had been swiped clean of all evidence as to what had happened to her since she arrived in Forks.

As she was hugging her mom and not allowing any tears to spill onto the soft cotton fabric of Renée's blouse, a cell phone vibrated within Renée's pocket. The vibration shook Bella's body and ached her ribs once again. Renée pulled away lightly and reached into her pocket to retrieve the small phone. She waved it in the air and said, "It's Phil. I have to take it." Then she got to her feet swiftly, flipped the phone open and kissed Bella on the forehead, careful to not touch the gauze on her head that secured the stitches she received. _I really banged myself up good._

She watched as Renée left with a feeling of separation all the while. She didn't want to see her mother go after not seeing her for so long. But even more, she didn't want to be left alone with Edward any longer than she had to. As if her preys were answered, the doctor walked in a second after Renée's absence, leaving Bella no time to panic.

"Bella, it's lovely to see that you've woken," the doctor said enthusiastically, his words sounding like he truly meant every one of them. The doctor looked similar to Edward in features and looked like a glamorous marble structure sculpted but Michelangelo. His eye color was the same as Edward's as well, only the doctor's seemed to be even lighter, almost a melted butter color.

At the sight of his warm face and kind, meaningful words, Bella smiled and said, "Thank you, Doctor."

The doctor placed a hand over his chest and chuckled shortly before saying, "Please, I think we are acquainted enough that you can call me Carlisle."

"Acquainted? I thought you said I just woke up?" Bella babbled nervously.

Carlisle opened his mouth to rebut, only Edward was suddenly at the doctor's side, touching his elbow and whispering in his ear so low that Bella could only hear the rush of air flowing through the room. "Oh?" Carlisle's eyebrows shot up at whatever Edward had informed him of. "Edward, join me in the hall?" When Edward shook his head politely and shot Bella once last longing look, Edward walked out of the room without another word. "I will be right back to check on your injuries. You took a nasty header out that…er…window." And with that final falter of words, the doctor turned on his heel and left the room, leaving Bella to contemplate all the information that her memory was failing to provide her with.

**Edward Cullen**

When Bella looked at Edward with a blank expression, signifying that she truly was not joking around with him, everything within his existence collapsed. The meaning to everything that he had witnessed, read about, and even heard about seemed to mean nothing to him. His Bella had no clue who her Edward was.

When Edward heard Bella asking her mother if Forks had been a nightmare that she dreamt of, he nearly blew his cover of his fake slumber by running out of the room in heartache. Edward knew that if his heart still had a pulse, it would have stopped beating at those words that flowed from Bella's mouth. Coming to Forks was a nightmare? Everything about Forks was a mistake? Could the love of Edward's existence remember that little about everything that they went through together?

Edward flipped over violently in his pseudo-sleep and exhaled loudly. Could she really think all those things? Was he really that _peculiar_ to her? Why couldn't she remember anything about him? Was their love really not strong enough to last through a case of amnesia?

And then suddenly, Renée was leaving the room and Carlisle was taking her place. Bella didn't seem to remember Carlisle as well, so at least it wasn't just Edward that her memory was blocking. He quickly stepped to his father's side and whispered in his ear at a volume Bella was sure not to hear, "She doesn't remember me, Carlisle. She doesn't know who I am. It seems as if she has lost her memory."

"Oh?" was Carlisle's reaction. He then asked Edward to step into the hall so he could talk to him and told Bella he would be right back. When Carlisle exited the room, he scanned the hall to see where Edward had gone, only to find him slumped against the wall on the floor. Carlisle crouched down next to him and placed his hand on Edward's knee, patting it lightly in a comforting manner. "I'll have to check her extensively and ask Bella more questions, but from what you informed me of, it sounds like she has amnesia. It is very common in patients that have head trauma. And Bella certainly went through more than anyone will ever know.

"When James knocked her into the mirror, she lost quite a lot of blood from the open head wound. And I'm sure that what happened to her wrist has something to do with the after affects of what happened." Carlisle's voice was gruff with despair as Edward silently mourned the loss of his love.

"What am I supposed to do, Carlisle?" he pleaded with his father. "The woman I am in love with almost dies because of everything that I put her through and now she doesn't remember anything about me. She cringed away from my ice-cold touch!" his voice shout up an octave in sadness. "She used to love my cold skin against her warm hands," he added much more quietly.

"Amnesia is difficult for everyone involved," Carlisle began with his professional voice. At the moment, Edward was just another victim he had to deliver bad news to; Edward was no longer his son for the time being. "You can't force anything on her. Especially with the overload of information that comes packaged with our kind and the world she can't remember. You have to take it slow and most importantly, try to be there for her as much as possible without scaring her. You can't give up hope after 90 years of finding no one. Bella is your one true love and there is nothing that can severe a bound that strong." Toward the end he became the loveable Carlisle that saved Edward from the Spanish influenza and took him in as his son. Carlisle placed his hand on his son's shoulder and squeezed it lightly to show his comfort.

"This is too much for me to handle right now," Edward moaned as he sank his face into his hands.

"I know it is. As I said, amnesia is hard for all whom are involved," Dr. Carlisle said professionally once more. "Why don't you head home with Alice and Jasper and calm yourself down?"

"You know I can't leave Bella, Carlisle. It's not physically possible for me," Edward grunted through his hands.

Carlisle stood and brushed off the knees of his dark blue doctor's scrubs and said, "I think it would be best for Bella if she had time to think without you looming in the corner, scaring her half to death. But if you prefer to stay…" Carlisle trailed off, walking back into Bella's room, feeling smug because he knew he had made his point to Edward.

Edward's head fell backward and _thunk_ed against the tiled wall he leaned against. He didn't know how to leave Bella. Yet he knew he couldn't stay and stress Bella out more. If she couldn't remember him, then she needed time to be by herself and remember things on her own. Yet Edward wasn't sure how to leave Bella and allow her to be left in the care of someone else.

It pained Edward as he stood from his place on the floor and gazed into the room where Bella was lying on the hospital bed. She looked so mangled up and pale that if her eyes were closed and the heart monitor wasn't there for reassurance, anyone would have thought she was dead. He watched as she answered Carlisle's tedious questions about the pain in her leg, ribs, head, and wrist. And he also watched as Bella stroked the gauze covering the bite from James. Did she know she was doing that? Did she know that a vampire had bit her there? Did she really remember everything about Edward's world, only she was blocking it out because she figured she was crazy? He figured it was a long shot and he was only trying to mend his tearing heart, but he tried to believe it.

Edward took one lasting look, sighed heavily and walked down the hallway. But not before Bella caught him staring and returned his pained eyes with apologetic and upset eyes. _What does she have to be apologetic for?_ Edward thought to himself and he much-too-quickly exited the hospital and ran inhumanly fast back to the hotel Alice, Jasper and Bella had been staying in.

A/N: So there's the first chapter. I hope you guys liked it. Please review and tell me what you think about it so far. I love to know what you guys think. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Coming Home**

**Edward Cullen**

Edward walked into the hotel room and was greeted instantly by Alice and Jasper. They stood by the entrance behind the large sofa and looked at him with eyes signifying that they wanted to know how Bella was. Edward simply shook his head at his family members and walked to the adjourning room with heavy feet.

Instead of his wishes to be left alone being satisfied, he heard Alice and Jasper following after him. Edward flopped on his back on the top of the bed and covered his face with his hands. _Was it really that bad? _Edward could hear Jasper thinking as he tried to calm down Edward's high anxiety level.

"She doesn't remember me," Edward mumbled through his hands. "She didn't remember Carlisle. She didn't remember anything about why she was in the hospital. She knows nothing about vampires."

Jasper took in a short breath – a gasp. Alice stood poised at the door, eyes distant as she searched the future. She opened up her mind to show Edward what she was seeing and thought to him, _Edward, I can still see Bella as a vampire. She'll come around eventually. Just give her time._

"Give her time?" Edward bellowed as he shot up from the bed in one quick motion and fumed. "Alice, Bella is the one thing that keeps me alive. She makes my world a better place to be in. Before her, nothing had any meaning for me. But now that I have her, I can't just let her go and _give her time_."

"Edward, you have to," Alice shot back, her words defensive yet sensitive at the same time. Jasper stood in the corner, reeling from the overwhelming sense of emotions flowing in the small room. "She can't remember anything. Do you honestly want to hover over her and freak her out? That would only make things worse and she certainly won't go back to you when she thinks you're a stalker. Edward, I can see you watching her every move, trying to protect her. Bella does not need protecting. She needs to remember things on her own. Give her time to sort things out _on her own_."

His eyes fell to the floor as he exhaled loudly. He knew his sister was right. Edward couldn't watch Bella every second of the day, preparing himself for impending doom. He had to give her space yet let her know he was here for her all at the same time. It was a difficult task, but Edward knew that it was all worth it for Bella. He would do anything for Bella.

Jasper could sense the change in Edward's emotions and he knew Alice had won. Edward looked up to see Jasper standing next to Alice with his arm around her shoulders. Sure _he_ could have his true love with him, knowing who he is. _No time to be jealous now, Edward,_ Edward thought to himself as he shook his head of the stupid emotion. He mustered a weak smile and Jasper and Alice beamed back at him. "Our flight is in an hour. We should leave soon," Jasper said to Edward as he guided Alice back to the main room of the hotel suite. Edward raked his fingers through his hair before moaning to himself and following after his family members.

"I'll be a wreck until she gets back to Forks, you know that, right?" Edward called out to them.

"Of course we do," both Alice and Jasper responded at the same time.

**Bella Swan**

"So you're saying that I lost my memory?" Bella asked incredulously after the doctor's words sank in. She thought that losing your memory was only in movies and books in order to make the plot better. But could this really be happening in real life? Bella was at a loss for words.

Dr. Cullen smiled knowingly at Bella, clearing anticipating this question. "With the help of your parents, friends back at Forks, and an open mind to things that may seem new to you, you'll be just fine. I promise you that you are safe."

_Why did those last words sound like they held a deeper meaning to them?_ Bella was stumped. She knew that all the doctor's words were true, but she was a bit skittish. Walking back into a town that she vaguely remembered moving to with a blank mind? Would that even work? She had to have received some remnants of a life in Forks. But if she didn't know what that life was, how would she live it? It was as if she were starting all over again in a town she didn't even want to live in to begin with.

"So when can I leave?" Bella pounced upon the question. As often as she was in the hospital – whether it be in Phoenix or Forks – she hated to be there. All she wanted to do was go home and lay in her own comfortable bed and forget about everything that happened to her. Only, she already got the forgetting part down, so she just wanted her comfortable bed.

"We'll keep you overnight for continuous observations and if none of your conditions have worsened by morning, you'll be free to leave," Carlisle smiled at her warmly again. "I can even accompany you on the plane ride to make sure that nothing happens to you."

"Why would you need to do that? Don't you have patients to tend to here?" Bella asked him curiously. As nice as this man was, it was strange that he would follow her back home just to monitor her health. That wasn't what a normal doctor would do.

Dr. Carlisle chuckled shortly before saying, "I live in Forks myself, Bella. I was leaving tomorrow as it is, and I figured you might enjoy a familiar face on the plane. If you wish otherwise, than I can always leave sooner."

"You live in Forks? What a coincidence…" Bella trailed off as if something were sparking in her memory. Only nothing was and it was as empty as ever. She sighed in exasperation. _This is going to be annoying._

"Why, yes it is," Carlisle replied, leaving space at the end as if he wanted to add more only couldn't. He looked at Bella one last time before saying, "You must be groggy. Rest up, it will help improve your injuries. I have rounds to attend to, excuse me."

As soon as the words slipped from the doctor's mouth, Bella suddenly realized how tired she truly was. As she drifted into unconscious, one face burned into the back of her eyelids, haunting her dreams as if they were trying to tell her something. Edward.

…_**Five days later…**_

"All right, so I'll try to get here on time after school, but I can't promise anything, kid," Charlie called through the open window to his cruiser as Bella stood on the outside.

Since Bella had broken her leg, she couldn't drive her truck to school so her father had to bring her. As much as she hated the idea of being seen in the cruiser by her friends – or what she remembered of her friends – she was thankful for Charlie. Since Bella came home and Charlie quickly forgave her for her childish tantrum and harsh words before she left, Charlie had turned into a real father. He tried cooking for the two of them, only it ended poorly. He did the laundry, though the end result was the entire white wash turning pink. And he nursed her as much as he could. There was nothing that Charlie would do in order to make Bella leave again. And she needed as much help as she could get.

"Sure, don't worry about it, Dad," Bella smiled weakly at him before she pushed the straps of her backpack up farther on her shoulders and turned around. She headed toward her first class on her crutches, avoiding the stares from the people around her. _It is just like the first day,_ she thought, frustrated with her stupid head injury.

As she approached the door to the building, which led to her first class, Bella struggled to open the door. With the crutches in her way and her ribs still aching, she couldn't get the door to cooperate. Just then a pale arm reached in front of her and opened the door in one easy swing. She followed the arm up to the body and then realized who it was; it was the boy from the hospital room, the boy she had been dreaming about. "Thanks, uh, Edward," she stumbled to say.

"Bella." His reply was supposed to sound casual, only her name ended with an intimate ring to it. An intimate ring full of unseen love and heartache. _What have I done to this man?_

She forced a dainty smile upon her lips and crutched away from him quickly, nearly falling to the floor by the too-fast motion. She expected Edward's arms to reach out and catch her from her near fall, only a different pair of arms caught her. "Geez Bella, you'd think that you would at least _try_ not get hurt again." She knew this voice; it was none other than Mike Newton.

"Mike, hi," she beamed with delight. She could finally remember a person. It was like finding water in the middle of a desert when you were dying from thirst. Mike was her social life savor at the moment.

"Hi, Bella. I'm really glad you're back," Mike replied sincerely. "How are you feeling?"

Bella ambled to her seat and Mike helped her to sit down, taking her crutches from her and placing them on the floor next to her desk. "I've been better. I just got back four days ago and my dad's been helping me get better."

"I still can't believe you fell out a window. I mean, I knew you were a klutz – you know, because we have gym together – but I didn't realize it was that bad!" Mike added with a laugh at the end.

Bella laughed nervously along with him. _Just because I was born without a sense of equilibrium, doesn't mean it gives people the right to laugh at me,_ she thought pathetically of herself. "That sounds like me."

The rest of the period went as well as could be expected. She had a lot of work to make up for her week's absence and apparently a lot of catching up to do with her friends. At lunch she sat with her normal group of friends – Mike, Jessica, Angela, Lauren, Eric, Tyler, and Ben – but she felt out of place. For some reason, Bella felt like she should be sitting somewhere else, _with_ someone else. Again her memory failed to provide her with the answers to her never-ending stream of question.

She fell into routine with her friends easily, the same thing happening over and over again. Apparently there was another trip to La Push being scheduled that Bella had already agreed to go to, but now she couldn't. With her leg the way it was and her ribs still protesting in pain, she gracefully backed out of going and everyone accepted that without argument.

She felt her eyes wandering to the table with Edward once again and she found herself asking who the other beautiful people he sat with were. Why did she feel drawn to go over to that table and sit with them? They all looked so intimidating to her; it made no sense the way she longed to be with them. As if on cue, she began stroking the gauze that she refused to remove from her wrist (she was too afraid to see what was underneath the bandage). Mike noticed this action and voiced his curiosity. "What'd you do to your wrist, Bella? Get stitches from the window or something?"

Bella looked down at her wrist and tried to think back again. Nothing came to mind. "I don't actually know. But I bet it is stitches. The uh…glass from the window went everywhere." Her friends at the table laughed, and Bella turned her attention from them to roll her eyes. _Always the source for comedy, Bella._

As the bell rang to signify that it was time for Bella to go to Biology, she suddenly felt anxious to get there. Sure Biology was her best class, but she didn't understand why she wanted to get there so fast. The crutches were too slow for her and she almost decided to ditch them and run to class had Mike not handed them to her and guided her to class with his hand on the small of her back. She couldn't help but want a different hand on her back, guiding her.

**Edward Cullen**

Edward noticed that Bella was staring at him during lunch and in a strange way he was glad for that. At least she was still curious enough about him and his family that she felt the need to stare at them. But Edward couldn't help but sulk throughout the whole lunch period. He should be sitting at the table off to the side of the cafeteria, away from his family and away from Bella's friends, sitting alone with Bella. He couldn't help but miss staring at her and making pointless conversation with her and voicing his disgust in the food she was eating. He missed the woman he was in love with.

"Dude, Edward, snap out of it," Emmett's booming voice erupted throughout the cafeteria and half the students turned their attention on them.

Edward sank lower in his chair and rested his chin on his folded arms that were on the table. "Leave me alone, Emmett," Edward sulked. His family went back to their meaningless conversation and Edward turned his gaze back to Bella, peering up through his eyelashes so no one could tell who he was looking at.

Then he saw what she was doing again; it was the same action he saw before he had left the hospital. Why hadn't she taken the gauze off her wrist yet? Bella was still stroking the bandaged wrist. Edward could only hope that she felt connected to him somehow even though the bite was from a different vampire. But his lips were the last to touch the wound, the lips that sucked the venom back out of her system and saved her.

When the bell rang he walked at an unusually slow pace, even for a human. He used to love this time of day, the time he would be able to sit next to Bella for an entire class period: Biology. But now, given Bella's state of mind, he wasn't even sure he should go. But he knew that he couldn't physically pass up the opportunity to sit next to his Bella even if she couldn't remember him. Perhaps this was the opportunity Carlisle was talking about. _You can't lose hope now, Edward,_ he thought pointedly at himself as he quickened his pace.

When he arrived at Biology and took his seat, Bella wasn't there yet. _She's on crutches. It'll take her longer than normal to get here,_ he reminded himself. From outside in the hall, he could hear heavy _thunk_ing again the tiled floor and Mike Newton's vial thoughts. Mike was plotting to ask Bella to prom and make her his girlfriend. Edward had to grip the edge of the table in order to stay seated and not kill Mike for thinking about taking Bella away from him. But was Bella even his to call anymore? He wasn't even sure about that answer.

Bella hobbled into the room and Mike led her to her seat next to Edward. She smiled weakly at Edward and took her seat, loudly falling into it. Mike placed her crutches on the floor and said to Bella, "You know, Bella, I was thinking."

_Oh crap,_ Edward thought to himself. He wanted to stop what was about to happen only he didn't know how to. He would just have to sit witness and endure the heartache. "Prom's coming up in four weeks. Would you like to go with me?" Mike continued to torment Edward. Mike saw Edward's furious face behind Bella and he smiled smugly at him.

"Like as a date?" Bella finally recovered from her shock and asked.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Mike said as he leaned forward on his elbows on the table.

"Oh," Bella managed to say. She blinked furiously as she tried to find the right words to say. "That sounds nice and all, but I don't think it's such a good idea."

Edward's shoulders relaxed and he let out the breath that he didn't even realize he was holding in. "Why not?" Mike's face visibly fell from the disappointment. Now Edward smiled smugly over Bella's shoulder at Mike.

"Well, I'm still in pain from my…fall," Bella began. Edward noticed she struggled to say the word 'fall' as if she didn't believe that was what really happened to her. "And because of my head injury, I lost a lot of my memory. I kinda feel like I'm starting all over here and I don't want to rush into anything at the moment. I think we should just be friends, Mike. At least for now."

Mike straightened up from the table and shook out his arms, shrugging his shoulders as if he didn't care what Bella had just told him. Edward searched Mike's mind and heard what he was really thinking. _She lost her memory? That is the lamest excuse I've ever heard. I didn't think Bella was the type to actually lie to me. I thought we were friends. Maybe she really does like Cullen. Ugh…_ Really? Newton thinks that Bella still likes him? Edward was euphoric from that information, all though he did wish it was love. "All right. That's fair," Mike finally said to Bella. Bella smiled at him warmly – a smile Edward wished she had shown him – and then turned her attention to the teacher as he walked into the classroom. Mike left to take his place at his desk.

The teacher fumbled around his desk for what he was looking for, which gave the class a few more minutes for socializing. Bella exhaled loudly in frustration and then winced from the pain that still hurt her chest. "Are you all right?" Edward tried not to sound too anxious about her health.

Bella looked at Edward and finally smiled at him genuinely. "Yeah, thanks. My ribs still hurt a lot. Oh, but don't tell my dad that, or even your dad, please!" she begged of him.

"Why not?" Edward asked curiously.

She sighed, causing another wince and then said, "Because I don't want any more attention from my dad or Dr. Cullen. I just want my life to go back to normal. Whatever normal that was."

"I understand," Edward said sadly. He took normal as a world without vampires, meaning a world without him. Even though she didn't know what she was saying, he still felt a pang of sorrow wash over him. Edward turned his attention back to the notebook in front of him and began scribbling randomly on it.

"I hate not being able to remember anything," Bella said under her breath, most likely only meant to be for her ears.

"Why's that?" Edward asked her as he continued to keep his eyes on the notebook in front of him.

Bella looked up at him confusedly until she realized he had heard what she said. "Oh, um, I don't know. It's just annoying not to remember a part of your life. And this part just seems really important all though I don't know why. I want to know why I decided to stay in Forks even though I _hate_ Forks. How can anyone like to live in a place where it rains 24/7?"

"Perhaps people like small town life? And I hear that fishing in the rain is good, but I could be wrong," Edward said while continuing to look down. He was upset that she said she hated Forks. But at least she didn't say that she hated him.

"Eh, I guess," Bella said as she tried to bend down and get her backpack that Mike left on the floor for her. "Ow," she moaned to herself. "Oh!" she gasped in surprise as he began tumbling forward off of her chair and couldn't stop the inevitable face plant.

Before her face hit the tiled floor, Edward's arms snaked around her stomach, careful to avoid her broken ribs, and gently pulled her back up in her seat, grabbing her backpack at the same time and placing it on the table. "Careful now. We wouldn't want to go to the hospital again, now would we?" Edward said as he pulled his arms back. It was so hard for him to remove his arms from her touch – which was what he had been wanting for such a long time, to touch Bella again.

"Thanks," she mumbled to herself as he began digging through her bag for her Biology binder. "I'm surprised you didn't laugh at me," she mumbled to herself.

"Why would I laugh at you?" he looked at her with wide eyes. Laughing at Bella at a time like this – a time where she remembered nothing about all the time they spent together – seemed impossible to Edward. He wasn't capable of seeing humor without Bella's love in his life.

Bella looked down at her notebook and just then the teacher began talking. He held up a small VHS box and informed the class that it was movie day. "This movie will take three classes I think. So enjoy the little break from actual work and we won't have homework either." He paused while the class – everyone except Bella and Edward – erupted in cheers. Mr. Banner put the movie in the VCR and pushed play. He then turned back around and said, "Oh, Bella, if you would come here, I can give you the work that you missed."

As Bella was about to attempt to get up, Edward pushed up from his chair and touched her shoulder slightly. "I'll get the work for you so you don't have to move, Bella."

Bella blushed involuntarily and Edward was sure that if his heart were beating, it would have skipped a beat. He was so glad to see that Bella was blushing at him again. Edward walked to the front of the class and he could hear Mike Newton grumbling unintelligibly to himself in his mind. Edward wore a smug smile as he reached the teacher's desk and said, "I came to get Bella's work since she shouldn't be moving all that much in her condition."

"Condition?" Mr. Banner questioned in a tone that meant he really was completely oblivious to what happened to Bella.

"Yes. Bella has been absent since she broke her leg, ribs, cracked her skull open and…got stitches in her wrist as well," Edward explained quietly so no one else could hear.

"What happened to her?" Mr. Banner's eyes grew wide with fright and he eyed Bella secretively.

Edward looked back at Bella who looked up at the same time and smiled at him. He then turned his attention back to his teacher and said, "She…uh…fell down two flights of stairs…and out a window," Edward struggled to explain the lie.

"Oh my goodness," Mr. Banner was frozen for a short moment. He then handed Edward the stack of papers Bella had to make up and said, "Tell her to take her time with this stuff. Tell her to get well soon."

Edward nodded his head and turned back to the table he and Bella shared. He sat in his seat and dropped the stack on the table with a loud _thwap_. "Wow, that's a lot. Thanks."

"I could help you if you need it," Edward suggested, more for himself because he wanted to spend more time with her.

"Thanks, but I took AP Biology back in Phoenix so I think I should have this down in no time," Bella waved this suggestion off, not seeing the meaning behind it. The movie began playing and Bella turned her attention to the screen. Edward tried to watch the movie as well, only he was far from fascinated with the topic of human genetics, a subject he had learned many times over in the past. Instead, he inconspicuously watched Bella the entire time, hoping she wouldn't notice his stare. At one point, Bella did look over to see Edward. Edward pretended as if he had been watching the film the whole time. Bella appraised his appearance and sighed a sigh of longing, almost as if she wanted Edward as much as he wanted her. But before Edward could return her gaze, she had turned her head back to the TV screen and didn't look back again.

A/N: So there's the next chapter. I really appreciate all your reviews. They make me happy. I'll update as soon as I can. Thanks. Review please.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Saying Bye is Hard to Do**

…_**A Week Later…**_

**Edward Cullen**

"Can you believe it?" Emmett nearly yelled throughout the house despite the fact that his entire family was in the same room as him. "It's gonna be sunny until Thursday! That's so rare!"

"Might as well go on a long hunt," Carlisle suggested as he walked into the kitchen to retrieve various pamphlets.

"Well this sucks," Edward grumbled to himself. Despite the fact that he wasn't _with_ Bella at the moment, it was still painful to think that he would have to go a whole weekend and four extra school days without seeing his love – 6 days of torment! "I think I'll just stay in the area and hunt, Carlisle." It was Saturday night and they were preparing for the week's worth of school absence.

"Edward, you can't stay here and torture yourself further than is necessary. A long hunting trip will do good for you, son," Carlisle informed Edward as he walked back into the living room with the pamphlets in order to decide where the family wanted to go.

"I'm not leaving, Carlisle," Edward snapped more harshly than he intended upon. As all six pairs of eyes stared at him, he turned and darted out the front door, running the familiar route to a house he should not have gone to. It was past midnight; it should be safe to visit Bella while she was sleeping like he had done so many times in the past.

Strangely, Bella's window was open already. Maybe she felt the need to keep it open, as if a part of her were attempting to remember him, only the rest of her body couldn't yet. He hoped that was why the window was open and it wasn't because she just enjoyed having the fresh air.

Edward sat in the rocking chair and stilled himself to a statue, doing his favorite thing in the world: watching Bella sleep. As always, she mumbled to herself while in slumber, mostly unintelligible babble. Edward's sculpted face cracked a smile as he became content with this familiar activity. It was as if nothing had changed between himself and Bella, although if nothing had changed he would have had Bella's sleeping body wrapped snugly in his embrace.

Hours passed when he finally understood a word Bella mumbled. "Edward…" the word came out as a sigh. At first he thought that she had awoken and he was caught. But then she flipped over violently under the blankets and spoke his name once again. "I'm so sorry, Edward," she spoke the words so clearly, he swore she was awake.

Edward rose from the chair and silently walked over to the side of her bed. Indeed, her eyes were locked shut and she was deep in slumber. He sat on the edge of her bed and stroked her hair with the lightest of touches. He placed his palm on her warm cheek and cupped her chin with the other hand. Thankfully this action only made Bella shiver and not wake. "Edward…" Again a sigh. "I didn't mean to hurt you." And then she tossed over again and mumbled the word "Jacksonville" in a frustrated tone. Edward knew he was no longer in her dreams and he slipped out the window. But not before he stole a kiss upon her forehead and stroked her gauze wrapped wrist with one finger.

**Bella Swan**

Bella fell easily back into the boring routine that life in Forks presented her with. She had a hard time bringing herself to stay. Her mom had told her that she and Phil were moving to Jacksonville, Florida and Bella could move back in with them. The idea was becoming more and more appealing to her.

She did not speak to Edward in Biology class after that first day back. Some part of her really wanted to converse with him, and she did still stare at him during lunch period, but she was too frightened to speak with him. Edward had been the first person Bella saw when she woke up after her accident and she still didn't know why he was there. If he lived in Forks, why had he been in Phoenix at the same time as she had? She still couldn't figure him out or remember anything, therefore she kept her mouth shut when she were sitting next to him. His presence next to her was driving her insane as it was.

Therefore on the second Monday back to school, Bella had made a decision. It was difficult for her to tell Charlie, but she promised she would visit as often as she could. She really loved Charlie and it was heart wrenching for her to leave him. But she just couldn't spend another minute in Forks.

"What do you mean you're moving to Florida?" Jessica shrieked when Mike came to their table during lunch and announced that Bella was moving.

Bella nibbled at the apple she purchased from the cafeteria. She didn't want to have this conversation with her friends. It was bad enough that she had to endure Charlie's reaction to her decision, now she had to deal with her friends? What else could be next? "I just realized that there's nothing here for me in Forks anymore. As much as I like all you guys – and I'll miss you guys _so_ much – " she added for dramatic affect, "I just think it will be better for me with my mom in Jacksonville."

The table erupted in _aww_s – everyone except Lauren – and Angela said, "But you promise you'll call me every week?"

This was the one person that she could make that promise to. She enjoyed Angela's company more than anyone else at this lunch table. "Of course I promise, Ang. Like I said, I'll miss you so much."

"Promise us all you'll stay in touch?" Jessica piped up as the tears began bubbling over her long eyelashes.

"Sure," Bella said, careful not to specifically say that she promised anyone else.

"Good!" Jessica gushed as she threw herself forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Bella's neck.

"Ow, Jess," Bella moaned in pain: her ribs were still recovering and they ached with the smallest of pressure.

"Sorry," Jessica sobbed as she untangled her arms and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm just gonna miss you _so_ much. You've become, like, one of my best friends. I just can't believe that you'll be leaving. When are you going?"

"Wednesday," Bella mumbled guiltily as the water works started again from Jessica. Angela sat quietly on the other side of Bella and barely touched her food. Lauren could care less about what happened to Bella. The guys at the table were sympathetic but they didn't handle emotions very well, so they sat on the other side of the table, talking amongst themselves about the latest video game that came out. Bella felt sorry for putting Jessica through this pain therefore she thought that maybe she should call Jessica. _It couldn't hurt to stay in contact with Jessica. I certainly would be able to get the latest drama from the group since Jess likes to talk._

The rest of lunch went much the same and Bella was anxious to get away from this table full of a wide variety of emotions. But she didn't want to go to Biology because she didn't want Edward finding out that she was leaving Forks. When she glanced over at the table where his family typically sat, it was empty. She tapped Angela on the shoulder and whispered, "Where are the Cullens today?"

Angela glanced over at the empty table and said, "It's sunny out, Bella."

_As if that explains anything._ Bella was completely confused by what Angela had just informed her of. What was that supposed to mean anyway? "Why should that matter?"

"Bella, the Cullens go camping whenever it's sunny out. I thought Jessica told you that once before?" Angela arched a curious eyebrow at Bella.

Bella thought back but only found a blank wall. "I don't remember that. Must have been during the time that I can't remember at all."

"Oh, sorry about that," Angela whispered back as she turned her attention back to her prom date Eric and struck up another pointless conversation with him. Bella took another nibble of her apple and exhaled loudly as it dropped heavily into her stomach. As much as she didn't want to see Edward during Biology because she was afraid of his reaction to her move, she still was upset she wouldn't be sitting next to him in her favorite class.

**Edward Cullen**

Edward's family was preparing to leave for their long hunting trip, leaving Edward in the house by himself. It was mid-Monday and the sun was shining brightly through the glass wall. The weathermen were right: not a cloud in the sky above Forks, Washington.

"Edward, please don't do anything irrational while we are away," Alice pleaded with her brother. She knew Edward quite well and knew he was capable of some not-very-smart plans. "Oh yes, I know about where you went last night," Alice said pointedly at him.

"I couldn't help myself, Alice," Edward admitted shamefully. "It seems as if nothing has changed between us while she sleeps. She said my name…"

"Really?" Alice's eyebrows shot up in pure fascination. "What did she say specifically?"

Edward sat upon Alice and Jasper's bed and crossed his arms over his chest. "She said, 'I'm sorry, Edward.' And she also said, 'I didn't mean to hurt you.' I'm sure it's nothing though."

"No," Alice pondered over the information Edward had given her. "Maybe her subconscious is trying to tell her something. Maybe she remembers you in her subconscious but can't remember you when she's awake."

"Or maybe she's just sorry that she doesn't talk to me in Biology anymore?" Edward didn't want to look too much into what Bella had said in her sleep. He didn't want to get his hopes up and crush his heart once again.

"I don't think that's right, Edward," Alice rejected her brother's opinion. "You two were so deeply in love. That kind of thing just can't go away."

"Maybe she just doesn't _want_ to remember a nightmare like myself," Edward muttered mostly to himself.

"You're wrong, Edward." Just then Alice's eyes glazed over and became very distant. Edward immediately knew what was happening: Alice was having a vision. As Edward searched Alice's mind so he could see the vision with her, she blocked him out. _How has she gotten so good at that?_ Edward asked furiously of himself.

When Alice came back to the present, she shook the grave look off her face and scurried into her closet to retrieve more clothes. "Do you think I should pack this tan cocktail dress? I know we're going to the cottage in the mountains, but we may go out to town, right? What is your opinion, Edward?" Alice held out the cocktail dress for Edward to see, clearly a poor attempt of distraction.

"Alice," Edward sternly demanded of her in one word.

"What?" she squeaked in a high pitched voice. "I think I will bring it. You know, you can never be too prepared."

"Alice. What did you see?" he stood in front of the closet door, blocking Alice's exit and trapping her in the large room.

"What are you talking about, Edward?" Alice dashed to the back of the closet and pulled a pair of white skinny jeans from a drawer. "I think you're being paranoid."

A low snarl built up in his throat and slowly escaped his parted lips. "What. Did. You. See."

Alice lowered her head in defeat. There was no getting around Edward when he was determined. "It was Bella," she finally admitted after a short pause.

"What? What happened? Is she all right? Alice, tell me everything you saw." Now Edward was getting extremely worried.

"Calm down, Edward," Alice waved off his worry as she successfully pushed past him and reentered her bedroom. "I saw her saying goodbye to Charlie. She's…she's moving to Jacksonville to live with her mother and Phil."

Edward stood at the doorway to the closet in disbelief. Was he really losing Bella after everything they had been through? He couldn't handle that now. Not after everything that he had sacrificed for Bella. "When?" he finally whispered.

"Wednesday." Edward's face turned to horror. There was no way he could even attempt to make her stay. It would be sunny until Thursday and he certainly couldn't show up like a disco ball to school. Edward had hit a brick wall. "I'm sorry, Edward," Alice consoled him in the only way she knew how. She walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"It's over, isn't it?" Edward muttered as he shrugged Alice's hand off and trudged to his room to sulk. Alice must have told the others about her vision because no one came to bother Edward while he was in his room.

**Bella Swan**

Bella was in her room Tuesday night packing up the last of her belongings. All her clothes were packed except the outfit she picked out for the next day and the pajamas she had on currently. She was standing at her dresser removing everything to put in a medium-sized cardboard box. She picked up an unfamiliar necklace that was lying on top of the dresser and examined it curiously. She had no idea where she got it or if someone gave it to her. But all she knew was that she instantly loved the long string of real pearls that looked to be from the early part of the century. _Where did I get this?_

Just as she was stroking at the long string of pearls, Charlie lightly tapped on Bella's slightly ajar door and let himself in. Charlie leaned against the doorframe and folded his arms across his chest. Bella turned to look at her dad and had to press back the tears that were pricking the back of her eyes. "Lovely, isn't it?" Charlie said after a long stretch of silence.

"What is?" she blinked confusedly at him.

Charlie jerked his chin in the direction of Bella's hands and said, "That necklace."

"Oh," Bella said as she looked back down at the beautiful jewelry. "Where did I get it?"

Charlie examined his daughter's face to see if she was joking with him, but when he realized she was completely clueless, he said, "Edward gave it to you about a month ago. It was his mother's before she died. You don't remember him giving you that?"

Bella inhaled slowly to collect her nerves. Apparently there was more than she realized between her and Edward. "I honestly remember nothing about Edward."

Charlie took a few steps into her room and said, "Your memory will come back to you eventually. You just have to be patient with it."

Bella looked up at Charlie with wet eyes and said, "I'm sorry, Dad."

"For what, kid?" Charlie asked, Bella's direction of conversation catching him off guard.

"For deciding to leave."

"That's all right," Charlie brushed off this exchange of emotion. If there were one thing that Charlie did not enjoy dealing with, it would be emotions. He reached forward and took Bella's fragile body within his arms and gently squeezed her close to him.

Bella stumbled as she lost her balance under the one crutch tucked under her arm but Charlie's arms around her didn't allow her to fall. She silently sobbed into his sheriff's uniform shirt and ignored the pain that her ribs were yelling at her for. As much as she hated Forks, she hated the idea of moving. But she knew that this was for the best.

When they pulled apart, Bella wiped away her tears with her gauze-wrapped wrist. She smiled guiltily up at Charlie and he smiled back at her. "I'm just afraid you won't get enough nutrition since you cook so horribly," Bella teased him as she grabbed her other crutch and began hobbling down the hall with Charlie behind her.

"Don't worry about me," Charlie called out to her. "I've been just fine for 17 years before you. I'll be a-okay."

Bella laughed loudly at the thought of Charlie being fine with the disasters he cooked up. By now she was hopping down the stairs with one leg, holding onto the railing for dear life as Charlie carried her crutches down for her. "I left some very simple recipes on the fridge. They should be pretty self-explanatory."

"Don't get your hopes up," Charlie muttered as he handed Bella back her crutches once they reached the bottom of the staircase. Charlie squeezed past Bella and rushed into the living room, flicking the TV on before he flopped down on the couch and watched the opening pitch of the Mariners.

Just when Bella sat in the recliner chair, the doorbell rang. Charlie made no move to get the door, therefore Bella had to struggle to get up, steady herself, and amble back over to the door. "Don't strain yourself, Dad. I wouldn't want you to break anything while getting the door."

Charlie glowered at her teasingly and settled back into the baseball game, not caring who was at the door at such a strange hour: 8:30 PM.

Bella opened the door and almost fell over again from the shifting of balance but caught herself on the doorframe. "What are you doing here?" she asked once she realized who their houseguest was.

"I heard you were moving so I came to say bye," Edward said as he stood on the porch, the porch lamp making a halo of light above his head.

Since the night was warm and there was no rain threatening to fall for days, Bella decided to go out onto the porch with Edward instead of allowing him inside. She wasn't sure what Charlie would do if he knew that a boy was in the house, let alone Edward Cullen, a boy she may or may not have been involved with. _Stupid memory._

She leaned against the railing and set her crutches aside leaning against the post as well. Edward followed close behind her and stood looking like an archangel. "Jacksonville I hear?"

"Uh, yeah," Bella said, feeling a bit uncomfortable by the situation. "My step-dad just got signed, so my mom and him got a house there. It's warm and hardly rains and the sun actually comes out there, so I think it will be good for me."

"Sure, that's understandable," Edward replied as he looked out into the front yard. He couldn't afford to give away his true feelings about this situation. What was he going to do without Bella around anymore? "You never seemed fully satisfied here to begin with."

Bella tipped her head so she could get the full sight of his face. "Do you know why I stayed? I mean, I don't even know if we were friends or anything, but I just feel like you might know. Why?"

"Oh." Edward was caught off guard with this. He didn't know what he should say to her. He knew why she stayed: Bella stayed to be with Edward. But could he really say that to her? No, of course he couldn't just tell her that they were in love, deeply, madly, and completely in love. That would surely freak her out. "I supposed you found comfort in the friends that you made here." That sounded reasonable enough to him.

Bella nodded her head slowly as she processed this information. _It sounds like there is more to it,_ Bella thought stubbornly to herself. She wouldn't stay just because she made a few nice friends. There were friends everywhere. How could the people in Forks out way the actual town of Forks itself? "It seems like there is this whole big reason _why_ I stayed but my brain won't let me remember. It's so frustrating not being able to know what happened to you for the past however-odd months. I feel like an idiot. I don't even know how I ended up in the hospital with amnesia in the first place."

"I thought you fell out a window?" Edward asked. Of course he knew that that was not the real reason why Bella had been in the hospital, but that was what Bella had been told. How did she doubt that if she couldn't remember anything?

"That's what they tell me," she muttered as she turned her head to stare at the blackening night.

Edward looked down at her and leaned against the railing, folding his arms across his chest. "You mean you don't believe what they tell you? What do _you_ think really happened then?"

She sighed deeply before saying, "I don't know. I just feel like everything is all wrong. Like I have a place somewhere, maybe _with_ someone yet I'm forgetting all about it. It's the worst feeling, like I'm living a lie only I don't have any proof that it's a lie."

Edward gazed forward and contemplated what Bella had just said. _Maybe _with_ someone yet I'm just forgetting all about it._ Edward wanted to shout right then that he was the person she was forgetting, the heart she was crushing. He knew she wasn't doing this to him on purpose, it just happened. "And I sincerely doubt that I fell out a window at a hotel. That just wouldn't happen."

"So you're saying it isn't likely, with how clumsy you truly are, that you couldn't fall down two flights of stairs and out a window?" Edward arched an eyebrow at her. He knew Bella well enough to know that this cover-up story was certainly plausible.

"Oh, no, it 100% could happen," Bella replied quickly.

"Then what are you saying?" he asked her curiously. Edward had no idea where Bella was going with her train of thought. It were moments like these where he wished he could read her mind.

"I'm saying that I don't believe it." Bella shifted her weight and rested her chin in her hand. "Sure I have the capability of snapping and throwing a tantrum and leaving this horrible place to go back home. But I would _never_ yell at Charlie unless I had an important reason too. I just couldn't hurt him like that.

"And even if I did yell at him because I was acting childish, why did I go to a hotel? I know where my mother hides the key to her house: under the eave. And I have keys of my own. And I am certainly capable of being by myself for a few days until my mom could come home from Florida. The whole story just doesn't make any sense at all to me. That's why I'm having a hard time believing it. Only I don't know what _really_ happened to me to get me so messed up," she concluded her explanation with a sweep of an arm over her mangled up body. "It just doesn't make any sense to me."

Edward was stunned. It wasn't that he didn't think Bella were smart enough to figure out the lie. No, he was surprised that she could figure it out so quickly. But she still couldn't remember the real reason why she ended up in the hospital. She still couldn't remember Edward.

"Sorry I told you all that," Bella mumbled after Edward said nothing for a long time.

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just…it's weird. I feel like I can tell you anything and you wouldn't care," she said with a smile. "Like I could say that I…drink human blood or something and you wouldn't care."

Her words made Edward wince, but he recovered quickly and said, "No, that's quite normal in the world I live in." His words were supposed to sound like a joke, only they fell flat.

Bella stared up at him in shock and Edward mustered a chuckle in order to cover his last comment. He hated not being honest with Bella. "Joke," he smiled unconvincingly at her.

She nodded her head slowly and pushed off the railing. "It was nice talking to you and everything, but I still have some more last-minute packing to do and I wanted to spend a little time with Charlie before I left."

"When are you leaving tomorrow?" Edward asked solemnly as he reached in front of Bella to hand her the crutches.

"My flight is at 7:30 in the morning." Bella took the crutches from him and placed them under her shoulders, steadying herself at the same time. As she wobbled, Edward grabbed her elbow and they both felt the electric shock that came with the touch. "Why haven't you been in school? You seem healthy enough not to be sick."

"Oh," Edward stepped back and dropped her elbow. "My family went camping since the weather was so nice and we just got back a little while ago. I heard a friend saying you were moving and I wouldn't be able to say goodbye so I come tonight to bid you farewell."

Each of Edward's words sounded true, only they each held a troublesome sadness that Bella could not interpret. _Why is this gorgeous boy so upset about my departure?_ "That's nice of you, Edward," she finally found the words to say.

"Well, have a nice flight, Bella," Edward said as he gazed into her eyes. He couldn't resist the urge to lean forward and kiss her on the cheek. As he pulled away, letting his lips linger a bit too long on the warm skin, he said, "Please be safe. And happy."

"You too," she struggled to say as her breathing became ragged. "Goodbye, Edward," her voice caught on an unexpected sob and tears threatened to spill. _I barely know this man yet I'm crying over not seeing him anymore? What is wrong with me?_ Before she could think twice about her action, she heard the crutches fall to the ground and she wrapped her arms around his stone-hard torso. She fought back the tears and took in his scent, burning every detail she had about Edward Cullen into her memory.

Before she could get too fond of the contact with Edward, she pulled back and attempted to lean over and pick up her crutches. Edward retrieved them in one swift motion and wiped the lone tear that was streaking down her face. "Be safe, Edward," Bella choked over the words as she hurried past him and into her house, not even chancing a look back.

For some reason – a reason she could not remember – Bella was devastated to have to say goodbye to Edward Cullen.

Edward Cullen

_My Bella is leaving me and there is nothing I can do to change this. I felt the electric current pass from her skin into my hand when I touched her elbow and it felt so good. She opened up to me and told me about her doubts of the window story like she would have if things were right between us. Could she really still be in love with me? I surely doubted that. I knew that there was a part of her that loved me, only that part had been lost due to the amnesia._

_And then she started crying when saying goodbye to me. She wouldn't show it, and simply one tear betrayed her, but she surely was upset. And she hugged me so tightly that it most definitely brought pain to her healing ribs. These actions had to mean something…_

_If only it weren't too late for my love and I._

Edward ran home as fast as he could, not even caring whether someone saw him or not. As soon as he entered through the front door to his home, he dashed over to his piano and began playing Bella's lullaby. The memory of the lullaby brought Edward into a bought of tearless sobs. There was nothing that would keep him away from Bella's room while she slept in Forks that night for the last time.

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in like forever. I was planning on updating this past weekend, but I couldn't login to fanfiction for the life of me. And I've been really busy with college researching, schoolwork, course selections for my senior year next year, and then I went on vacation for the past week. I'll try and update quicker. Promise. I was disappointed with the last chapter's reviews (thanks ****Elwen of Lorien**** for being the only reviewer!). I really want more reviews. So please? Review for me? Thanks.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Last Resort**

_A/N: For this chapter to make sense, Jacob and Bella have to be pretty good friends. I know that in the first book, Jacob really isn't that big of a character, but for this story to make sense, Jacob has to mean a lot to Bella (just as friends though, Jake isn't romantically interested in her). Oh, and Jake is a werewolf too. 'Kay. On with the story._

**Bella Swan**

Bella stood at the terminal waiting for her plane to be called. She stood with Charlie while she held back the tears. She had cried herself to sleep, thinking about hurting both her father and a man she hardly knew: Edward. Charlie held her carry-on bag as they waited together, all of Bella's other items already brought to where it needed to be.

Over the announcement, passengers for the flight Bella was leaving on were called. Bella pivoted slightly to stand in front of Charlie as she gave him a one-armed hug. "I'll call you as soon as I get into Mom's house, okay?"

"Take your time, Bells," Charlie mumbled into her hair. "Just be safe and don't break any more bones, all right?"

Bella pulled away with a smile on her face from Charlie's dry humor. "I'll try. I'm gonna miss you."

"Miss you already," Charlie said as he leaned forward and kissed Bella on the forehead, a rare display of emotion. He slung the bag over Bella's shoulder and watched as a tear slipped down her cheek and walked away. As she was about to disappear out of sight, she turned around and smiled weakly at her dad, a part of her life being left behind her.

She reached her seat slowly and was told that the stewardess had to take her crutches from her. Bella watched warily as her one means of balance and transportation while walking were taken up to the cabin of the plane. She sighed loudly and looked out the window, waiting for the plane to take off.

Bella hated to leave her father and friends behind. But she also hated Forks. It was such a mystery to her why she had stayed as long as she had. As much as the newly married couple disgusted her, Bella never would have endured such torture for that. Forks was a nightmare, which was why Renée had left all those years ago.

The usual announcements were called out; belts on when the light is flashing, no standing unless otherwise told not to, gas masks above, the whole bit. Bella listened with boredom, too anxious and wary to leave Washington.

Bella felt the slight jolt backwards as the plane started to move and she sighed with relief. _Off to a place where it hardly ever rains._

**Edward Cullen**

Lonely.

That was really the only way to describe the way he was feeling. Edward could say that he was lovesick, heartbroken, depressed, and angry. But really _lonely_ summed up all of his negative emotions. He just felt completely void of everything in his life.

Again, Bella had said the same things in her sleep as the night before. "I'm sorry, Edward." "I didn't mean to hurt you." But he still couldn't bring himself to think too deeply into the meaning of these statements. If he thought too much about them, it only hurt him more.

But now that he knew that Bella's plane had officially left, the pain he was feeling was indescribable. At one time he had wanted Bella to live her life without him. Edward had thought about leaving Bella so she could live a normal life without vampires and away from danger. But now that she _was_ away from him, he only wanted her back.

The rest of his family had not returned yet from their long hunting trip. This fact only made him feel more alone in his immortal life. He was a killer by nature, destined to live forever alone. But once he had tasted family and love, he wasn't sure if he could go back to his rightful place. Edward wasn't sure of a lot of things these days.

Suddenly Edward had an idea. Normally he never would stoop this low, but he was desperate. And desperate times call for desperate measures. _Maybe Jacob Black could help me get Bella back into Forks._

…_**Later That Night…**_

_What are you doing here, Cullen?_ Jacob thought harshly as he approached the treaty line and saw Edward standing there with a grave expression on his face.

"Do you think you could phase to your human form so our conversation is not one sided?" Edward asked as politely as he could, his voice cracking from the pain he was holding in.

Jacob sat down slowly and cocked his large head at Edward. Jacob was curious as to the expression so plainly visible on Edward's face. What possibly could be wrong with him? _What's this about?_

"Please." Edward did not want to waste energy arguing with a werewolf or playing interpreter. He just wanted to get this embarrassing moment over with, the moment he would ask his enemy for a favor. A favor that would either mend his heart or shatter it even farther.

Jacob decided he didn't feel like bickering, so he quickly changed forms and pulled on his sweatpants. He stood ten feet away from Edward and folded his arms across his chest, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "What do you want?" Jacob barked. This was the last thing he wanted to be doing today.

"It's about Bella, Jacob," Edward got straight to the point. He didn't even try to hide the depression that was coloring his tone.

"What about Bella? Is she all right? What happened to her?" Jacob babbled. Sure, Bella hadn't called him in a few weeks, but he just figured she was busy with her bloodsucker or school and such. He never imagined something could have happened to her.

"She's fine now," Edward quickly shrugged this off. Edward was past Bella's latest near-death experience. He was more concerned with the fact that she wasn't _here_.

"Now?" Jacob quickly butt in, cutting Edward off with whatever he was about to say.

"Yes. She was injured in a vampire attack," Edward rushed over the words, hoping Jacob would allow the subject to drop. "But that's not what I wanted to speak with you about."

"A vampire attack?! WHAT?" Jacob fumed, his face getting hot and his whole body shaking viciously.

Edward sighed, knowing there was no way around this topic of discussion. "Yes, there was a tracker after her and we had to protect her. She went to Phoenix with Alice and Jasper but snuck away from them, thinking James – the tracker – had her mother. Bella was tricked and he broke her leg, a few ribs, cracked her skull, and bit her wrist. But she's doing better now."

"So…so Bella's a…a vampire," Jacob whispered the words, letting his words be carried by the wind over to Edward.

"No!" Edward spoke the word with great emphasis. "I sucked the venom back out of her bloodstream. Other than her injuries, she is an extremely healthy human."

"Oh," Jacob physically saw the relief drip from his forehead. _Thank God Bella isn't a filthy leach._

"Yes, I agree," Edward answered Jacob's thoughts, which only made Jacob scowl at him. "Now may I say what I came to say?"

"Oh, sure," Jacob said after a moment. He almost forgot that there was a reason for this unpleasant encounter.

Edward ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled loudly. "Well, from the attack, Bella lost her recent memory – amnesia Carlisle said it was."

Jacob stood across from Edward and blinked in confusion. He wasn't able to form any words to voice his misunderstanding, therefore he thought, _And this affects me how?_

Edward swallowed over the lump that had risen in his throat and said, "Bella is in Jacksonville now."

"So she's visiting her mom. What's so bad about that? It may even help her memory come back. I still don't see how this has anything to do with me," Jacob said. Why did this guy have to be so confusing and tell Jacob everything about his girlfriend?

"She's not visiting," Edward whispered, the lump getting larger with each passing second. This was harder than he initially thought it would be.

Jacob's brows pulled together as he slowly processed each word Edward had whispered. Jacob could tell that the words pained Edward to speak, leaving behind a deeper meaning. It took Jake a long minute to understand what Edward was implying. "You mean…you mean, she moved there?" he sputtered, the words spilling from his mouth incoherently.

"Yes," Edward choked back a sob.

They stood in silence for a long while, both unable to form words. Edward was too distraught to speak further for the moment and Jacob too caught off guard to be able to formulate coherent sentences. Finally Jacob thought, _What is there for me to do? If she's already moved, then how can I help with anything?_

Edward rubbed his jaw and spoke quickly, "Perhaps if you call her? She may remember you, but she may not. But if you try and talk to her, get her back to Forks. It's hard to breathe without her here."

"She doesn't remember you?" Jacob replied incredulously. Was that even possible?

"Correct." The affirmation ached Edward to make.

_But you two were so much in love. She was crazy about you,_ Jacob thought. Even though he could care less about this particular vampire, it was strange to see him in so much pain. Jacob thought it would be better if he thought the words instead of spoke them, hopefully inflicting less damage on Edward's cracking heart.

"I know. I wish it weren't the truth. But it is unfortunately." _Can't he just say he'll help me and leave me to sulk on my own?_ Edward asked emotionally to himself.

It took Jacob a long time to come up with his answer. But finally he said, "I'll try and give her a call. I'll have to call Charlie for the current number and then call her. Maybe I'll do that later tonight. I still have my patrol to do for the evening. I can't promise I'll do it tonight though."

"But your acceptance is more than enough for me," Edward sighed. He was banking everything on this one flimsy attempt to bring back his love. He couldn't really say his heart was breaking since it was in Florida – with Bella forever. "Thank you, Jacob."

"Sure, sure," Jacob replied slowly as he turned to phase back.

…_**The Next Day…**_

**Bella Swan**

"Bella, honey," Renée's voice called up the stairs.

Bella was in the middle of unpacking her suitcases with a heavy heart. She arrived in Florida the day before and it only made her attitude worse; it was raining when her plane landed. At first she just saw it as bad luck. But as the day progressed and the rain grew harder, she took it as a sign that she wasn't supposed to be in Florida.

Now she exited her new room – a room that was smaller than her room back in Forks – and stuck her head around the corner after she heard her mother calling her. She wasn't even aware that Renée had come back from being with Phil. "Yeah?"

"Telephone," Renée called back excitedly.

"Thanks," Bella called back to inform Renée that she got the information. Bella turned back around and went into her room to pick up the cordless phone that was on the bedside table. "Dad?" she asked into the phone. She really wasn't expected anyone else to call her.

"Uh, no," a deep, masculine voice answered her. "It's Jacob…Jacob Black, from La Push." Jacob's voice was shaky and unsteady; he was nervous about this call.

"I'm sorry, who?" Bella asked in confusion. _Great, more mysteries that my brain won't let me remember,_ Bella huffed in annoyance. She figured coming to Jacksonville would end her amnesia troubles, but apparently they kept following her.

"You don't remember me?" Jacob asked hoarsely. He knew this phone call was going to be awkward and hard to make, but he made a promise to Edward that he would try to get Bella to come back. Funny that he would be making promises to vampires in order to get his best friend to come back to Washington.

Bella thought and thought and fresh sweat dewed on her forehead but nothing came. The wall that her mind had put up was impenetrable and it was getting on Bella's last nerve. _Will I ever get my memory back? Or be left in the dark for the rest of my life?_ "Should I remember you?"

"I'd think so," Jacob muttered to himself. "We were practically best friends once you moved to Forks. My dad is Billy Black if that helps anything…"

"That name sounds familiar," Bella recalled vaguely, memories from her many trips to Forks before she moved there fluttering behind her closed eyelids. "I think I know him from before I moved there. He's friend's with Charlie, isn't he?"

"Right," Jacob said enthusiastically, happy she at least remembered his dad. "I'm his son, Jacob."

"Well, yeah, you said he was your dad," Bella said as she sat down on her bare mattress. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to put her sheets on the bed. It would just mean that this move was somewhat final. Maybe that's why she hadn't put any of her clothes in the dresser yet…

"Right," Jacob said, feeling like an idiot. "So, you moved to Florida without saying bye to me?" This fact actually did upset him, even though he portrayed it as a joke. They had been close friends – even best friends – and she didn't even say goodbye. Most likely because she couldn't remember him, but it was still a painful truth.

Bella opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She repeated this motion for a full minute, gaping stupidly and coming up with no words. Finally she just said, "I don't remember you."

"I know, I know. It was a joke," Jacob chuckled to hide his pain. _Wonder how the leach must feel then? _He asked himself, then shook his head quickly when he realized he was sympathizing for his enemy.

"Sorry," Bella mumbled sadly into the phone. His voice was warm and friendly and he seemed like a nice enough person. Apparently they had been best friends. First she couldn't remember the god-like Edward, and now this friendly Jacob. Why did she have to forget all the nice people?

"Sure, sure," Jacob said gruffly, not bothering to hide his remorse at this point.

As Jacob said those somewhat familiar two words, a spark went off in Bella's head. She knew Jacob! She couldn't remember everything about him or how they met or anything she had done with or said to him, but she remembered knowing _him_. "I remember knowing you."

"Really?" Jacob's eyes widened in disbelief. Why had she suddenly remembered him? "Why now?"

"It was what you said," she answered him, a smile tugging at her lips. _Ha, I'm starting to break you down_, Bella laughed at the wall that she was slowly cracking. She could almost see the light pouring in from the other side of it – metaphorically that is.

"What did I say?" Jacob asked quickly, trying to remember what he has said to her.

"_Sure, sure_," she mimicked him, lowering her voice to try to sound like him as well. She laughed at her poor imitation of this man that she vaguely remembered. "It's weird. It's kinda like this guy I know – Edward. He was in my hospital room when I woke up and I still can't remember how I know him or anything about him. But I know that I _should_ know him. Like this feeling inside me saying I need to figure it out or I'll lose this huge part of me. Crazy isn't it?" Did she really just say all that to someone she barely remembered?

Jacob was ecstatic; she remembered him. But then she sort of knew Edward too? Not completely remembered him, but knew she had to remember him or part of her was lost? He had underestimated the love Bella had for Edward. It ran much deeper than he initially thought. "That's not weird. Sounds like he was really important to you."

"Yeah," Bella sighed, coming down from her cloud of euphoria to think about Edward. "I really don't know though. I wish I could remember. It's killing me not knowing."

"Well how're you gonna remember all the way across the country, Bells?" Jacob asked, subtly hinting for her to come back to Forks.

Bella sat on her bed, puzzled. How _was_ she going to remember all the way in Florida? "That's a good point, Jake," Bella mumbled as she sunk her face in her hand, feeling remorseful and stupid. _Why did I come to Jacksonville?_

**Edward Cullen**

"She did? She remembered you? How?" Edward babbled once Jacob came close enough that he could read his thoughts.

Jacob walked into view in his human form and approached in a slow stride. "Something I said triggered the memory. She doesn't really remember anything about me, she just knows she knows me." Jacob shoved his hands deep into his pockets as he tried to look natural rather than disgusted by the smell. _Why does he look like the smell doesn't affect him? _Jacob asked curiously of himself.

"I don't really think about the smell. I just think of a colleague," Edward answered nonchalantly as if Jacob had voiced the question instead of thought it. "So her memory _can_ come back if something triggers it," Edward said thoughtfully. There were so many possibilities at this point. Only she had to be back to Forks for those to happen.

"She remembers you too," Jacob said. For some bizarre reason, he hated to see Edward in pain. Jacob was in pain seeing as his best friend had moved across the country. He could only imagine how much pain Edward was in for losing the love of his…well, existence.

"What?!" Edward's eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"Well, sort of…" Jacob corrected himself, trailing off at the end.

"What do you mean?" Edward asked cautiously, trying to read into Jacob's thoughts. Only Jacob was blocking his mind quite easily from him at the moment. _Why is everyone getting so good at that? _he asked inwardly, frustrated with himself.

Jacob took one hand out of his pocket and ran it through his slightly shaggy hair. "She said that she couldn't remember knowing you and stuff like that. But she did say she knows she _should_ remember you. She said she had this feeling inside her saying she needs to figure it out or a huge part of her will be lost. She really loves you, man, even if she can't really remember."

Edward was quiet for a long while after that, trying to process the meaning to the words and then believe them. "She'll lose a part of herself?" he asked quietly after what seemed like forever. His voice was quiet and hoarse as he spoke, still unable to believe the words completely.

"That's what she said," Jacob answered quickly.

"She remembers…sort of…" Edward couldn't even form proper sentences; he was babbling incoherently, even to his own ears. "Is she coming back?" he asked, his voice getting even lower than before.

"Uh…no," Jacob admitted. "I wasn't that lucky."

"Oh," Edward said, his shoulders hunching over and his breath becoming ragged from fear of never seeing Bella again.

"But I suggested that she come back. You know, so she can figure out why she should remember you," Jacob quickly informed him. "She said it was a good point. She didn't even sound like she was happy there. It's possible she could come back. Don't lose hope, Edward."

Edward looked up at Jacob with pleading eyes. This was everything he wanted, everything he had hoped for since Bella confirmed that she was moving to Florida. All he wanted was for her to come back so he could see her again. If Florida weren't so sunny he would have followed her there. "Thank you, Jacob."

"No problem," Jacob replied sincerely. "It really weird, but I hate to see you in so much pain. It's sickening to see you so…well, sick."

Edward chuckled at this sudden change of emotions. "I would like to be able to think of you as a friend, Jacob Black."

"I'll have to think about that, Edward," Jacob honestly said. As much as he was beginning to like Edward, it still was hard to get past the fact that Edward was a vampire, the enemy to him.

"That's quite fair enough," Edward nodded his head earnestly. "Thank you for your efforts of helping me. I'll let you get back to whatever it is I am keeping you from."

"Thanks," Jacob muttered and even dared to stick his hand out to shake Edward's hand.

Edward was taken by surprise by this gesture; he hadn't seen Jacob thinking about it in his mind. _Maybe I'm losing my gift since I lost Bella,_ Edward thought. After a long second Edward took hold of Jacob's burning hot hand and shook it firmly. "You're a good man, Jacob."

"Don't get all soft on me now, Cullen," Jacob teased back as he tightened his grip to boast about his strength and then let go of the freezing cold stone of a hand. "See you later, I'm sure."

"Until another time," Edward called out to a retreating werewolf who had already phased in one swift motion.

_There is hope for Bella and I after all…_

**A/N: So, again thanks to **Elwen of Lorien**. You're like my hero of reviews. Please, review for me. I'm sad I've only have one review for the last two chapters. So if you could make a girl happy. Please? Thanks. Hope you enjoyed it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Missing You**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. I did take a part of the book and place it in this chapter, but it's as a memory, and I did add a couple sentences of my own. But that's all Stephanie Meyer's. I'm not taking any credit for that. She's a way better writer than I am…_

**Bella Swan**

"And I just can't believe he asked me. I mean, can you? I'm so excited!" Jessica squealed into the phone. Mike Newton had just asked her to prom that day at lunch and she was telling Bella all about it. Naturally Bella would have called Jess on a day she would have the most to talk about. Bella bit her lip not mentioning that Mike asked her first.

"That is amazing," Bella said, feigning enthusiasm. She's been in Jacksonville for a week now and it hadn't been going well. Sure the weather was amazing, but Bella hadn't made any friends yet.

After the first day of Renée spending every second with her daughter, Bella hardly saw her mother. Renée spent most of her time with Phil. Bella didn't mind alone time, she just didn't enjoy rejection by her own mother. At least Charlie never tried to act like he wanted to be an involved parent. Alone time and space with Charlie was completely normal. But with Renée you hardly ever got a minute alone. Now that her mother was leaving Bella alone, she didn't like it so much.

"Edward Cullen hasn't been back to school," Jess blurted out. "It's weird, his family is back but he isn't."

"Really?" Suddenly Bella was very interested in this new topic of discussion.

"Yeah, no one knows what happened to him." Jess was happy to have dragged Bella's full attention into a conversation.

"No one has asked where he is?"

"No!" Jessica bellowed. "Not all of us are as crazy as you, Bella."

"Crazy?" _Why am I the crazy one of Forks when I don't even live there anymore? _Bella thought bitterly to herself. "Why me?"

"The Cullen's are…intimidating," Jessica whispered into receiver.

From what she could remember of seeing the Cullen family during lunch, what Jessica said was true. She could even remember thinking this at one point. But Bella couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous this sounded. Intimidating? Ha! Bella began laughing uncontrollably at the thought of it.

"What's so funny?" Jessica asked, stunned by Bella's reaction.

"Intimidating…Cullens? Haha!" Bella said through her hysterical laughter. _It really isn't that funny,_ she kept telling herself but that didn't change anything.

"Like I said, crazy," Jess muttered to herself, which made Bella stop short.

"I'm not crazy," she snapped, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. "I just…I think I miss Forks." _Did I just say that?_

Jess was smiling hugely as she answered, "I knew you would."

But there were many reasons why she missed Forks. She missed having friends and people to talk to. She missed Charlie and his small, disorganized house. She missed being alone, but alone because she wanted to be, not because her mother was abandoning her for her new husband. Strangely, she missed the rain; being humid all the time was annoying Bella. Plainly, she missed Forks.

But there were many other things she knew she should miss as well, only her memory was – again – failing her. And she desperately wanted to see Edward's face again. She was afraid she would forget what his perfect face looked like after a while.

Bella sighed heavily and noticed that the phone was unusually quiet. "Jessica?"

"Yes?"

"Oh, I thought you might've hung up or something," Bella said, surprised at how long Jess – queen of talkative people – was quiet for.

"Seemed like you were thinking," Jessica simply explained. She was actually hoping that Bella was thinking about moving back. Jessica missed her friend and a phone call wasn't enough for her.

Bella exhaled heavily and pushed all thoughts of Forks and Edward and Jacob out of her head. "I'm gonna go out and _attempt_ to tan before the sun goes down."

"Oh," Jess said, caught off guard. "Okay."

"I'll talk to you later," Bella said as she stood from her desk chair. "Tell everyone I say hi?"

"Sure. Bye, Bella," Jessica said, her voice turning glum.

"I'm happy for you and Mike by the way," Bella threw in, hopefully cheering Jess up before she hung up. "Bye, Jess," and she quickly pushed the off-button.

She stood on her thickly casted leg, thankful she finally didn't need the crutches to walk around on anymore. She grabbed her tattered copy of _Wuthering Heights_ and wobbled out on the back porch into the sweltering heat. How she longed to be lying in a field of lush grass in Forks, reading blissfully in the rare Washington sun with spots of dancing light falling over her like the light from a disco ball.

**Edward Cullen**

"I'm not going back," Edward stated as he heard the thoughts of his four siblings entering in the house coming home from school.

"Stop being such a baby," Emmett boomed from the garage where he was parking Rosalie's car.

"Lay off, Emm," Jasper said as he felt Edward's emotions.

Edward stood in the dining room, his hand pressed up against the window wall as he had been doing the whole day. He hardly had the patience for anyone these days. Bella wasn't with him and he was alone; he just wanted to be left alone by his family too.

"You aren't alone in this world, Edward," Jasper interpreted his emotion. He used his strange powers to try and calm his brother. "You have all of us."

Edward suddenly felt calm and that angered him. "Enough, Jasper!" he shouted and the emotional manipulations instantaneously faded away. "I don't want you guys," he said quietly. "I just want Bella."

"I didn't know she meant this much to you," a feminine voice right behind him said. Edward turned around for the first time that day to reveal Rosalie standing a foot from him. "I'm sorry for all my hostility toward her. I'm…I'm so sorry."

Edward reached forward and clasped onto Rose's hand. He could hear how sincerely sorry Rosalie was in her mind. "I know. It doesn't matter now, though."

"Edward," she said sternly. "You need to cut this out. Everyone hits a few bumps in the road. The love you two share is so strong that it's impossible to be completely forgotten. She _will_ come back to you. Now stop moping around. Be a man."

Edward stared blankly at Rosalie. Of all the people in his house, he never expected Rosalie to be the one to yell at him. But he also knew that she was right; he couldn't keep acting like a zombie all of the time. But when he tried to have Jacob get Bella to come back, it didn't go as well as he hoped for. How could he not resort to failure?

"It hurts, Rose…" he whimpered out. There really weren't words to describe how he felt, but that seemed to sum it up.

"I know," Rosalie whispered back.

Edward could tell Rosalie wanted to hug him and comfort him as much as she could therefore he took a small step forward and fell into the protective hold of his sister. He knew that if he were capable of tears, he would be soaking Rosalie's silk blouse.

Rosalie cooed him and stroked his back in soothing circles. She had never seen Edward this upset and vulnerable before. It made Rosalie uneasy to see her strongest - well, emotionally anyway - brother so defenseless.

Edward pulled away from Rosalie's embrace and rubbed his hands over this face. He hated looking so weak in front of his family. And just as he suspected, Alice, Jasper, and Emmett were all in the living room watching what just happened. "It's okay, Edward. It will all work out," Alice said in a small voice.

"How do you know that?" Edward snapped even though he didn't mean to sound so rude. "Have you seen anything else about Bella?" he asked in a softer voice.

Alice looked at everyone else before she looked at the person who was in the most pain. "No," she whispered back. She wished that she had good news that she could tell Edward, but there was nothing. It killed her to be so useless to her favorite brother.

"That's alright, Alice. It's not your fault," Edward sulked as he slowly trudged up the stairs slower than human pace to his room. He preferred to do his sulking and to be depressed on his own time where no one was there to watch him.

**Bella Swan**

A full week of schooling in Jacksonville had passed and Bella was still friendless. She sat alone at lunch on a tree stump away from all the other picnic tables. In all her classes, she either sat by herself or next to someone who completely ignored her. The only time she spoke to anyone was on the first day when she tried to befriend a girl named Rachel who was equally uncoordinated in gym class. When Bella started talking to the girl, Rachel looked at her as if she were crazy and walked away, flipping her hair and swaying her hips.

So needless to say Bella was alone. She didn't even have the comfort of coming home and spending time with Renée; Renée was always with Phil these days. Bella would come home from school, finish her homework much too quickly for her liking, do a little free reading, and cook dinner out of habit. Some nights Renée and Phil didn't even come home in time for dinner. At least in Forks whenever Charlie would be late for dinner – which was extremely rare – he would call to let Bella know.

Bella didn't even fit in at the house she lived in. She couldn't even qualify it as her own house because it didn't feel like home to her. It was too bright for her new acquired taste, the sun was too hot, the ground was too dry, and it was too quiet.

Bella classified herself as depressed these days.

And as much as she was depressed, lonely, and annoyed with herself, she didn't know how to admit defeat and make the decision to move back to Forks. She could only remember being depressed in Forks, so why should she want to go back there? _Stupid memory,_ she thought bitterly to herself for the umpteenth time.

"You've already said this, Bells," Charlie said into the phone. Charlie was on his lunch break the second Friday that Bella was gone. It was 12:30 in Forks, therefore it must be 3:30 in Jacksonville where Bella most likely just got out of class.

"I know," she said restlessly. Why couldn't he just do this one thing for her? "But, you know you can't cook. You must be dying out there. I should come back to help you stay nourished."

Charlie scrubbed his hand over his face. As much as he wanted Bella to come back, he couldn't give her what she wanted and beg her to come back. He knew Forks was not her favorite place in the world, and now that she couldn't remember Edward she would hate Forks even more. "You call everyday and email me with play-by-play dinner instructions. I've lived alone seventeen years before you, I think I can handle myself."

"But, Dad," she whined. He could be so stubborn sometimes.

"Bella, you love being with your mom," he reminded her. "Why would you want to come back and spend time with your boring dad?"

Bella put down her pencil and leaned back in her desk chair. "Renée is never _here_, Dad."

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked dramatically. This was news to him, hearing that Renée never spent any time with their daughter. That didn't sound like his ex-wife in the least.

"I didn't want to tell you, Dad," Bella immediately regretted letting this piece of information slip. "Forget I said anything. I'll just suffer out here in warm weather. What am I complaining about?"

"Isabella Marie," Charlie said sternly. She let the cat out of the bag, now she was going to reveal everything about what she knew.

Bella sighed deeply; there was no escaping Charlie when he wanted to know something. "She spends all her time at the park with Phil. I'm always here alone and I have no friends at school and it's just not fun. I hate being rejected by everyone."

"I'm sure your mom isn't rejecting you, Bell. Don't be so over dramatic," Charlie stated as he contemplated this information. Charlie couldn't believe that Renée would do this, even if she were so smitten by her new husband. "Maybe you should talk to your mom," he suggested.

"No, she's happy with Phil. I won't do that," Bella immediately rejected this proposal. It would kill Renée if she were told that her daughter was experiencing rejection issues. "I'll just suck it up and act like a big girl. I'll be fine, Dad."

"Maybe I should talk to Renée," Charlie thought aloud.

"Ah, Charlie," Bella moaned.

"Bella." Now he had an excuse to try and get Bella to move back. He knew his daughter; she wouldn't willingly hurt her mother by saying she wanted to move – again. Bella also didn't like to admit defeat.

But given this new information, Charlie thought that Bella would be better if she were living with him and not with her mother and stepfather. He lost the battle in trying to make his love stay almost seventeen years ago. He wasn't about to lose his daughter to the same woman who wasn't paying attention to Bella. "Behave, Dad," Bella said in a tone that suggested defeat to her father.

"Aren't I always?" he grinned into the phone. Bella rolled her eyes as Charlie continued by saying, "Just hang in out there, ok?"

"'Kay," she mumbled into the receiver. "Love you."

"Love you, too, kid," Charlie said sincerely despite his lack of interest in emotional exchanges. "Billy and Jacob say hi, too."

"Oh, tell them I say hi back," Bella perked up. "Tell Jake to give me a call sometime."

Charlie chuckled and said, "Desperate for some human interaction?"

"Oh be quiet," Bella joined in with his laughter because what he had said was the truth. All she wanted was to talk to some more people. All she really wanted was to go back home, home to Forks.

**…_Later That Night…_**

Bella sat at the kitchen table wrapping cold spaghetti around her fork. She made something simple for dinner since she was tired: spaghetti and meatballs, Renée's favorite. When her mother called earlier, Renée said she and Phil would be getting back at about 5:30. Now that it was 7:15, Bella was becoming infuriated.

Finally she decided to throw out all the food – Renée and Phil would have to find food for themselves – and go up to her room. She stomped up the carpeted stairs as loud as she could and slammed the door as she entered her room. It was one thing for her mom not to tell her when she would be getting home. But to call and tell you a specific time yet not come home then? Bella was so mad she could bust.

She stood in the middle of her small bedroom with her hands on her hips. She knew that what she were about to do was completely irrational, but she was upset to say the least. She marched over to her bed and reached under the bed for her duffel bag that was half full and placed it on top of the bed. Bella then went to her dresser and began ripping the clothes out of the drawers and throwing them at her bed.

Her surprised anger sparked something in her mind and she was knocked over with the memory. This was completely new to her mind, although she was sure that it was a memory. She just couldn't figure out how this memory connected with anything.

"_You promised," I reminded him harshly._

"_Bella, you hit your head, you don't know what you're talking about." His tone was cutting._

_My temper flared now, and I glared defiantly at him. "There's nothing wrong with my head."_

_He glared back. "What do you want from me, Bella?"_

"_I want to know the truth," I said. "I want to know why I'm lying for you."_

"_What do you _think_ happened?" he snapped._

_My words came out in a rush. "All I know is that you weren't anywhere near me – Tyler didn't see you, either, so don't tell me I hit my head too hard. That van was going to crush us both – and it didn't, and you're hands left dents in the side of it – and you left a dent in the other car, and you're not hurt at all – and the van should have smashed my legs, but you were holding it up…" I could hear how crazy I sounded. What had I been thinking telling him all this?_

_He was staring at me incredulously. But his face was tense, defensive. "You think I lifted a van off you?" His tone questioned my sanity, but it only made me more suspicious. It was like a perfectly delivered line by a skilled actor._

_I just nodded once, jaw tight._

"_Nobody will believe that, you know." His voice held an edge of derision now._

"_I'm not going to telling anybody." I said each word slowly, carefully controlling my anger._

_Surprise flitted across his face. "Then why does it matter?"_

"_It matters to me," I insisted. "I don't like to lie – so there'd better be a good reason why I'm doing it."_

"_Can't you just thank me and get over it?" he snapped._

"_Thank you." I waited, fuming and expectant._

"_You're not going to let it go, are you?" he sighed._

"_No."_

"_In that case…I hope you enjoy disappointment," he informed me._

So there was something about Edward that was connected to Bella. She still wasn't sure about anything that may or may not have happened with Edward Cullen. But she did know there was something that happened and she had been very insistent about finding out the truth.

Yet after all her attempts to find out who Edward really was, she got amnesia and lost it all. Bella wasn't sure if she actually _did_ find out what Edward was or why he had been so secretive and mysterious, but she knew she wanted to find out again.

She sat down on her bed with clothes sprawled around her everywhere thinking about two things. The first was hoping Charlie would talk to Renée to get her to move back to Forks.

And the other was Edward.

**Edward Cullen**

"Bella has been thinking about moving back, Edward," Alice skipped into her brother's room with this good news only to find the room empty. She ran back downstairs to see if he was there, but he wasn't there either. "Emmett, do you know where Edward went?" she asked Emmett as she passed him in the living room.

"He went hunting a little while ago, why?" Emmett informed her with a curious expression.

Alice sighed and headed toward the door. "I wanted to tell him something, that's all."

She then exited the house and ran at full speed toward the place where they hunted most frequently.

Edward could hear Alice's thoughts before he could actually hear her moving through the thick forest. She was thinking about one thing: what dress she should wear to prom. He knew she was probably hiding something from him once again, something he had become extremely annoyed with. It was bad enough that he never was able to read Bella's mind, but now everyone else had to block him out too? What was this torture?

Before Edward could pull himself up from the ground where he was slumped over on, Alice appeared and stood with her arms crossed in front of her. "What is it now, Alice?" Edward barked out.

"Edward, for goodness sakes, that is such a lovely polo and you're getting it _filthy_," she scolded him.

Edward rolled his eyes up at her as he struggled to push himself off the damp dirt floor. He rubbed his palms together once he was on his feet and began walking off in the opposite direction from his sister. "Just leave me alone, Alice."

"The last thing you need currently is to be left alone," Alice retorted as she danced over to his side in an instant. "Why won't you let any of us help you?"

"Alice, I don't want your help," he honestly told her. He knew it was harsh to admit this to Alice when all she ever did was try to help him. But he had to tell Alice the truth; he was in pain. "All I want is Bella and that is getting me nowhere."

"Well you need to stop dreading over that," she sternly told him. "You have a life to live too, not just Bella."

Edward hunched his shoulders over as he contemplated her words. "Bella is the only one of us who deserves to live. I don't."

"Edward Cullen!" Alice gasped in shock. "Don't you dare do anything rash like you were just thinking!"

_Rats, I made a plan. Stupid me, _Edward thought inwardly. His thoughts danced to Italy for one involuntary second and Alice was already on to him. Now she would be watching him like a hawk. "I know, I know. I'm being a baby, aren't I?"

"Yes," Alice didn't even try to hide this fact. "But I would do the same if I were you, I'm sure."

"Thanks," he mumbled as he shoved his hands deep into his pockets.

Alice then skipped forward and stood in front of Edward, making him stop short. "Well, what I was going to tell you…"

"Oh right, what was it you wanted?" Edward felt bad for acting like a child when his sister had to tell him something.

Alice's lips tugged upwards at the corners as she said slowly, "I've been seeing a lot lately that Bella has been thinking about moving back here."

"Really?" Edward bellowed in excitement. He never pictured this day would come, the day when he might have a chance of seeing his love again.

"Yes." She was now smiling hugely up at Edward. It was almost visible the relief that was radiating off of Edward at the thought of his love coming back. "But like I said, she's just been thinking about it. It is not definite yet."

Edward placed his hands on Alice's shoulders and said with a smile on his face, "But this means there is the possibility that it may end happily. It may be all right in the end." This had his smile gleam and all he could think about was Bella, as if his thoughts never strayed from his love.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers, **marpena, hollis14, , and Elwen of Lorien.** Sorry I haven't updated in a while but school has been pretty crazy lately. Anyway, hope you liked the chapter and review please. They make me happy. Thanks!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Decisions, Decisions**

**Bella Swan**

As Bella sat – still utterly frustrated– on her bed, she could hear her mother trudging loudly through the front door. Renée was chattering angrily on her cell phone and Phil was heard following through the door shortly after. Renée's voice rose and fell in fury. It was apparent that whoever she was speaking with was making her extremely upset.

Bella chanced it and snuck down the stairs quietly. She may have been upset with her mother, but she was still a curious person and wanted to know who was making Renée so upset. She tiptoed into the kitchen where Renée was circling around the small table. Phil's head was buried deep in the refrigerator, looking for leftover dinner that he wouldn't find.

"You're acting like such a little kid," Renée nearly shouted. "You know how to cook for yourself!" Renée paused to listen to what the caller had to say and as she turned around, she saw Bella standing quietly in the doorway that led to the kitchen. "Why?" Renée mouthed to her daughter.

Bella looked completely confused as she tried to understand what her mom was saying to her. Just then, Phil pulled his head out of the fridge and looked at his stepdaughter. "Isn't there any dinner, Bella?"

Bella just rolled her eyes at him as the thin layer of infuriation resurfaced. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the frame of the entrance. "Oh that's absurd," Renée muttered quietly into the mouthpiece as she turned away from her daughter. "I'll talk to her about this and call you back." She then snapped the phone shut in a quick motion and spun around to face Bella. "Why?" she voiced this time.

"What are you talking about, Mom?" Bella asked as she looked at Phil from the corner of her eye. He had his nose sticking into a nearby cabinet in search for anything to eat.

Renée sighed and pulled out a chair at the table. She slipped into the chair heavily and folded her arms on the wooden surface. "I just spoke to your father, Bella."

"Oh." She didn't realize that he would talk to her so soon. She didn't even have time to prepare herself for this confrontation. But now that the time arose, Bella knew more than anything that she wanted to move back to Forks. No matter what she was moving out of this sunny place. She wanted the rain back strangely.

"Why is Charlie saying that he thinks it would be wise for you to move back?" she asked, her voice suspicious all the while.

Bella tucked her hands more tightly against her chest and winced at the sharp pain since her ribs hadn't completely healed and said, "What did he tell you?"

Renée sighed heavily but answered her anyway. "He said you told him how I spend so much time at the park with Phil." At the sound of his name, Phil turned his head curiously at the table. But after realizing he wasn't being beckoned, he continued to rummage around the kitchen for anything that was suitable for dinner. "He said I keep abandoning you in the house all by yourself."

"Well," Bella began. She knew that with Renée she would have to be extra sensitive about the words she used. "Maybe he's right, Mom."

"What?" Renée said, obvious in her tone that she was hurt.

Bella was guilty for hurting her mother's feelings. But she knew that this was only the beginning of what she would have to inform her mother of. "Mom," she began slowly while crossing the distance between the entrance and the table to take a seat across from her mother, "you have to look at everything that's happened since I moved back." She picked up her casted leg and rested it on the chair next to her to keep it elevated.

"I don't understand, Bella. What have I done wrong?"

"You've done nothing wrong, Mom," Bella informed her. "I'm happy that you're married and happy with Phil. I really am. That's part of the reason why I can't stay here. You always spend all your time at the park with Phil and I'm left her alone. I typically like to be alone, but I just feel…I don't know…rejected in some way."

Renée leaned forward, outstretching her hands for Bella to take. When Renée's fingers closed around her daughter's smaller ones, she said, "Oh, Bella. Why didn't you tell me any of this? It's been almost two weeks since you moved in."

"Like I said, I'm glad you're happy with Phil. I don't want to ruin that." Which was true; Bella felt odd barging in on their time together. She was old enough to take care of herself, almost a senior in high school. She didn't need to be living with her mother anymore. And living with Charlie was almost like living on her own. "I just feel like I deserve to be happy myself."

"Happy in Forks?" Renée asked, her tone surprised and incredulous.

Bella let out a short laugh for she wasn't sure of that herself. She just knew that she _would_ be happy in Forks. "I don't remember. But I know that I will."

Renée smiled and was about to comment before Phil erupted in hunger. "God! Where is all the food in this house?"

"Yeah, Bell," Renée agreed, "why isn't dinner ready?"

Bella retracted her hands from her mother's grasp and that same thin layer of irritation returned, only thicker this time. "You didn't come home when you said you would. The food got cold and I threw it all out. Sorry," she added in a bitter tone.

Phil ran over to the garbage can and stepped on the lever that opened the lid. He peered in and let out an exasperated sigh. "Ah man! That looks so amazing even in the trash!"

"Why would you throw it out, Bella?" Renée asked as she pushed up from her chair and walked over to what her husband was mourning over.

"I'm not your slave," Bella snapped. Both Phil and Renée stared at her with wide eyes. They had never seen Bella snap a wire and speak so harshly to them. When Renée was about to speak, Bella stood from the chair, awkwardly balancing herself on her bulky cast. "I'm almost finished packing. If you're not too busy, Phil, my flight is tomorrow at 12:30 in the afternoon. I'll need a ride." As soon as she said that, leaving both her mother and stepfather flabbergasted, she turned around and ambled her way back up the stairs. For the first time in almost three weeks Bella was happy.

Happy because she was moving back to Forks.

**Edward Cullen**

Edward walked into school the next morning (the morning that Bella would be leaving on her plane, even though he didn't know this yet) with a somewhat chipper composure. Alice told him that Bella was thinking about returning to Forks and that was reason enough for him to hope.

Normally Edward wouldn't condone to hoping about anything. But lately that was all he could do. Just hope that Bella would return. Because there was no way to get her back otherwise.

While he was entering the school grounds, he bumped into Jessica Stanley. "I'm sorry, Jessica. I wasn't particularly paying attention to anything this morning," he apologized to her in his most sincere voice possible.

Jessica stared up into his eyes and got lost there. She never had been so close to him before and she was feeling a little star-struck. "Th-that's o-okay," Jessica stammered like an idiot. Her face flushed a deep shade of red from embarrassment, only making Edward want someone else to make this same action.

As Edward bent down to retrieve the book that Jessica dropped to the pavement, she recovered herself and somewhat smoothly said, "Where have you been lately? We haven't seen you around school in a while."

Edward stood up straight and handed her book back to her as he said, "I've been a little under the weather lately is all. No big deal." Although that was a bald-faced lie. It was an incredibly big deal, which made him glad he was such a good actor when he was around humans.

"Missing Bella, huh?" Jessica inquired as she began walking toward the first building.

"Excuse me?" Edward asked, baffled beyond belief.

Jessica nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said shyly, "Bella moved to Florida. I just figured you would miss her. You know, since she was your girlfriend and all."

"Oh," Edward simply said. "That. Yes, I miss her," he admitted.

"Yeah," Jessica dragged the word out. "Why did she dump you anyway? I thought she was crazy about you?"

"She did not dump me," Edward snapped, taking offense to her curious words. "After her accident she got amnesia, as I presume you know, and can't remember much about our relationship. We're kind of at a stand-still at the moment, if you must know."

Now it was Jessica's turn to say the vague word of "Oh." They were now in front of Jessica's first class, Edward having walked her there out of chance. "Well, I'll see you later then?" she asked as she turned slightly in the direction of the door.

"I suppose so," Edward replied politely. Then as he heard the thoughts of the person approaching, his face turned sour, which made Jessica look hurt. _Dude! First he takes Bella from me and now he's moving in on Jessica? What is this guy's problem? He's only asking for trouble from me. And I would gladly rearrange his face if that were the case._

Just as the last of these jealous thoughts were recited, Mike Newton strode over to the pair of conversing people and slung his arm possessively over Jessica's shoulders. "Cullen," Mike addressed him with a tight nod. "Hey, Jess. Missed you yesterday." _Ugh, why do I have to pretend to like Jessica? _Mike thought foully to himself.

"Me too," Jessica gushed. Edward was so disgusted by this terrible human being that he had to do everything in his power to restrain himself from killing Newton that very second.

"Jessica and I were just talking about Bella. A common interest for the both of us," Edward cut into their pseudo-romantic moment.

Mike turned his head slowly to look at the one man he hated most at their school and raised his eyebrows. "Really? Yeah, I talked to Bella last night. We were talking for hours."

"Somehow I doubt that," Edward said as he heard Mike thinking carefully about his lie.

"So now you doubt me?" Mike asked as he removed his arm from Jessica and advanced slowly on his one enemy.

Edward stood his ground with an amused expression on his face. As if Mike would be able to inflict any kind of danger onto him, a vampire who could no doubt snap Mike in half in the blink of an eye. "Of course I do. Bella and I were quite close before her accident and she never particularly liked you, as you might think otherwise." He never wanted to inform Mike of this fact, seeing as Bella insisted on being friends with him, but Edward just didn't like Newton at all. He didn't see the harm in letting this fact leak.

"Sure," Mike replied coolly. "Because she liked you _so_ much too."

This got Edward livid and he said, "I'll have you know that Bella and I were in love."

"I hear you talking in the past, Cullen," Mike said. "Sounds like she doesn't love you anymore."

"Mike," Jessica's small voice interrupted into their battle of words.

"What?" he snapped, turning his head the slightest bit to look at his prom date.

Jessica looked up innocently through her eyelashes and said, "Leave him alone."

"Jessica," Edward addressed her, his voice turning soft and comforting all at once. When she looked up at him, he continued. "Mike doesn't really like you. He only needs a date to prom. I heard this in the locker room yesterday."

Jessica's face turned to one of shock as she narrowed her eyes at Mike. For some reason – even though this was the first day she had ever had a real conversation with Edward – she believed Edward more than she would ever believe anything that Mike would say to her. He had liked Bella so much before she left; there was no way that those feelings could have disappeared in less than two weeks. "Really, Mike?" she said coldly as she raised her eyebrows and placed a hand on her hip.

"What?" Mike bellowed dramatically. "Why would you believe this guy – a guy you have never talked to before – over me?"

"Because he's more of a gentleman than you are," she announced forcefully. "_He _wouldn't lie to me. And Bella loves him, why would she be with someone who lies to people?"

Mike opened his mouth several time like a fish but no words came out. Edward stood in shock. He never expected Jessica to believe him so completely. He was also surprised by the fact that Jessica said that Bella _loves_ him, as in present tense. _That can't be possible,_ Edward thought to himself. _She doesn't even remember me._ "Jess…" Mike finally mumbled desperately. He never particularly liked being called a liar before. _That moron. I'll kill him._

Just then the bell rang, signifying that all three of them were late for their first lesson. Jessica narrowed her eyes at Mike again, gave Edward a warm smile and small wave, and pushed her way into her first class. Edward could hear the thoughts of what Mike wanted to do to him so he darted away toward the fourth building. He wasn't in the mood to murder anyone right then, even if that someone was Mike Newton, the worst kid in Forks High.

**Bella Swan**

Bella was sitting at the edge of her bed, everything packed and ready for her flight that was later in the afternoon. Apparently it was pouring in Forks (who would have thought?) and her plane had been delayed a mere two hours. Now she had to wait until 2:30 before she could get out of this horrible place.

And that was the strange thing to her. Jacksonville should have been a place she loved. Her mother was there, the sun was ever present, and the only day it rained was the first day she arrived. But even though there was all these great things, things Bella used to love, she hated Jacksonville.

Apparently after living in Forks for as long as she had, her taste changed and now the only place she loved was cold, wet, and dismal. But she knew in her heart that there was so much more to offer her in Washington. There was her father in Forks, Jacob and his dad, Billy, a group of friends who actually liked her and talked to her, and then there was Edward. Mysterious and bizarre Edward. _What am I supposed to do about that one?_ She asked herself as she put a black flip-flop on her one foot while the other was still in its thick plaster.

Even though she didn't want to admit it to herself, Edward was one of the main reasons why she was going back to Forks – back home. She knew nothing about him personally and that bothered her immensely. It bothered her so much because she knew that she _should_ know much more about him personally. She felt like she used to know everything about him only know she can't. And frankly, she felt like something was torn away from her when she moved away from him, almost as if he was her only life support.

And perhaps that was why she was so depressed in Florida. Because of the empty feeling that wouldn't go away, she couldn't complete herself again in a place where he wasn't. She had to be around him in order to figure things out. Somehow, she knew that Edward would be the only thing to help her memory come back completely, something she had wanted ever since she first saw him in her hospital room in Phoenix and couldn't remember him at all.

Now, for what seemed like the millionth time, Bella heard more knocking on the door to the room she slept in (she couldn't call it her bedroom since she didn't consider this house her home). She sighed loudly as she knew she would have to let them in eventually. It was 11:00 AM now and she still hadn't eaten anything that morning. "Bella, honey, please," her mother begged through the locked door.

Knowing what she had to do. she pushed herself off the bed heavily and clunked over to the door. Her hand lingered on the handle for a regrettable moment before she unlatched the lock and creaked the door open to reveal a pained-looking Renée. The mother and daughter pair shared an interlocking gaze of remorse and sorrow before Bella was able to say, "Hi."

"I thought you might be hungry," Renée informed her as she lifted her hands to reveal a tray filled with breakfast foods. "Can I come in?" she asked tenderly.

Instead of answering her, Bella just took a few steps back, opening the door fully in the process, and waved her arm toward the bed, gesturing for her to come in. Renée walked slowly to the bed and sat down, placing the tray next to her leg. Bella stood in front of her mother, arms crossed over her chest, refusing to sit down at the moment. "You can't stop this," Bella blurted out coldly.

Renée's eyes turned pleading as she stared up at her only daughter. "Please, Bella. You don't have to do this. I'm so sorry for everything I've put you through."

And at those words Bella cracked. She hated to see her mother in so much pain, especially since she caused this pain on her own flesh and blood. It was heartbreaking to know that she had been so cruel to the one person who had always been there for her. "You didn't put me through anything, Mom. This is all my fault."

"It's not your fault, baby," Renée said as she reached forward and took hold of Bella's hand.

She sighed and moved a foot forward. "No, it is. I snapped last night and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted like such a child."

"But that's just the thing, baby," Renée began as she stroked her thumb over the back of Bella's hand. "You are a child. And you need a mother – or at least some sort of a parent. I've been too busy with Phil and that's not right. I shouldn't have been putting my husband over my own daughter. I was acting like the child, not you."

"But you're so happy with Phil. I didn't want to ruin that – " Bella began to blame herself again before Renée cut her off short.

"It doesn't matter about Phil and I," she said firmly. "A mother and daughter have a bond so tight that nothing should break it. And I allowed my marriage to do that to us. We used to be so close, but then everything changed when I said 'I do.' You're my daughter and you shouldn't have felt rejected, not by your own mother."

Bella had to blink hard to keep the tears inside her. She couldn't believe how grown-up and motherly Renée was sounding. Never in her life had she seen her mom show such strength. _Why is everything changing for me? _"You shouldn't have rejected me," Bella admitted in a whisper. Before Renée could continue more, she continued on quickly. "But you shouldn't have to be burdened by me. I know you love me, but you also love Phil. I know you have a responsibility to your daughter, but you also have a responsibility to your husband. And besides, I want to live with Dad. He needs me, and strangely, I need him right now."

"What do you mean?" Renée asked softly.

Bella exhaled slowly and placed her other hand over her mother's. "I need to get my memory back. And I think the only way for me to do that is if I'm with him, where everything I've forgotten is close-by."

"Do you mean Edward?" Renée asked curiously.

Bella's eyes grew wide with disbelief. _Is it really that obvious?_ "How do you know about Edward?" she asked in a high pitched voice.

"I've told you before," Renée began explaining, "you talk in your sleep."

Her cheeks flushed a bright shade of red and she lowered her eyes in embarrassment. "Is it really that bad?"

"Well, yeah, kinda, Bell," Renée honestly informed her. "I couldn't sleep the other night because Phil was snoring like a chainsaw – " Renée paused to roll her eyes at the memory " – and when I walked past your room, you were tossing and turning and saying his name over and over again. I was worried about you because you looked so strained and upset, I didn't know what to do. Then when I walked by an hour later and checked on you, it was the same thing. Every night since then I've seen the same, sweetie."

Bella closed her eyes in despair. She knew she hadn't had a good night's rest in quite some time – in fact, she hadn't had a good night's sleep since before she arrived at her mother's house – but she didn't realize it was that bad. And yes, she knew that Edward was the star in all of her dreams, but she didn't realize she had been saying his name out loud so frequently. Maybe it _was_ best for her to return back to Forks in order to end her confusion over this god-like mystery.

"You said blood a lot, too. It was kind of creepy," Renée added with a shiver that rippled down her spine. Again, this was something Bella already knew about. There was always a waterfall of blood – human blood to be exact, only how she knew that she wasn't sure – in the corner of the small enclosed room where Edward would be in her dreams. The first night she had this dream, it freaked her out and she was sweating when she woke up. But after having that same exact dream for over a week now, it seemed almost natural, as if her mind was trying to tell her something. It was like a message that was sent in Morse code only she wasn't sure how to interpret it yet.

"Yeah…" was the only thing Bella's lips were able to form.

"He does mean a lot to you, doesn't he?" Renée inquired.

"I'm not quite sure," she admitted in a thoughtful tone. "That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"And going back to Forks – " Renée began only to have Bella finish the sentence for her.

"Is the only way I can figure out what the heck was going on between the two of us. Why he was in Phoenix in my hospital room. Who he really is. I just need to know, and I can't do that from Jacksonville, Mom," Bella concluded as she hobbled over a few steps to sit of the other side of the tray of untouched food.

Renée turned slightly to look at her daughter and said, "Why didn't you just tell me this, baby?"

"Because it's only part of it." _A really big part of it,_ she added mentally. "But it doesn't mean I'm not going to miss you…again."

"Yeah," Bella's mom sighed. "I'm going to miss you, too, sweetie. You're everything to me."

"Nah," Bella replied. "Phil is."

Both the mother and daughter laughed quietly at this and then Renée said, "But if you're really going to be moving back there, you have to promise me one thing. And if this doesn't happen, I'm dragging you back here myself, that's a promise."

She chuckled at her mother's threatening words and said, "And what is you're 'one thing'?"

"You have to starting emailing me quicker," Renée said in a serious voice.

Bella simply rolled her eyes and leaned her torso over the tray of food that was creating a barrier between them. "I'll see what I can do about that, Mom."

"I'm serious about dragging you back here if you don't," she warned her daughter while whispering in her ear and stroking her thick hair.

"Oh, I know you are," Bella replied as she smiled warmly and pressed her face into the hollow of her mom's neck, memorizing the smell of her perfume so she would never forget it, amnesia or not.

"Hey, Bell?" her mother's voice filled the silence lingering between them after a moment.

"Hmm?" she replied while pulling out of her warm embrace.

Renée looked down at Bella's arm and said, "You ever going to take that gauze off?"

As Bella stared down at it, she wasn't sure what the answer was exactly.

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait everyone. I've just been so busy lately. And I've kind of engrossed myself in another story that I'm writing. So again, sorry bout that. Review though! Thanks peeps. (did I just say peeps? weird...)**


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: So for this one I decided to change it from 3__rd__ person to 1__st__. I know it sounds weird, since we've had six chapters the other way. But I guess I just like it better this way. And it's more fun to read. Well, enjoy it anyway._

**Chapter 7: Arrival**

**Bella Swan (POV)**

I was finally on my way back to Forks, the one place I – strangely – wanted to be at most. Sure, saying goodbye to my mother and stepfather yet again was hard to do, but I knew it was for the best. Without me there they could live the life they always wanted to have together. And with me living with Charlie, I could give him a part of something he lost – my mother.

But all in all I was taking action in my life. Ever since I could remember I was too timid to do anything that I wanted to do. The first time I moved was for my mother and her new husband. Then once living in Forks, I always did everything essential for Charlie; again that was for someone else. Now I was moving back because _I _wanted to. Not for someone else, but rather myself. It was a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I was glad for that feeling.

Now I knew we were flying over Washington without the pilot telling us. What used to be a crystal clear view from my ovular window to the ground 20,000 feet below misted over and turned cloudy, obstructing my view. At first this annoyed me, seeing as my favorite thing on a plane to do was looking at the ground below as if it were a tiny ant farm. But then after a few minutes of peering through the gray and dark clouds, a sense of wonder and calmness washed over me as I realized this was _my_ Washington. I was finally home.

When the plane touched the paved runway and then stopped, I was so glad that I was the first person to leave. (I was still in my bulky cast and my doctor told me to bring my crutches just to be on the safe side. Because of this the airline said I was to be allowed on the plane first and off the plane first as well. Just my luck too because I couldn't wait to get off this plane to see my dad's face beam with delight.)

I was scanning the cluster of people waiting for their family and friends to emerge, searching for the one person I wanted to see most right then. Sure enough, pushing his way through the crowd of people was a brown sheriff uniformed man. My face ignited in happiness as he finally was free from the sea of people and came rushing toward me.

"Bella!" he erupted in joy as he stepped in front of me and threw his arms around my shoulders, squeezing me gently to his chest. Thankfully my ribs were completely healed and this pressure did nothing to me. But it still made me wonder about why he was being so emotional when everyone knew he was not a man of many feelings.

"I missed you, Dad. Are you thinner?" I joked while hugging him back strongly.

"Me? Thinner?" Charlie denied this as he untangled his arms from me and took my backpack off my shoulder for me. "If anything I've put on a few pounds since you've left."

"Yeah, of course you have, Dad," I replied with a smile tugging at my lips. I decided not to walk with my crutches anymore since I didn't even need them and just carried them horizontally at my side. Charlie looped one arm around my shoulder as he led me toward baggage claim.

"We've missed you around here, Bell," Charlie mentioned conversationally.

I eyed him sideways and said, "What do you mean, 'we'?"

"Why, me, Billy, and Jacob of course!" he bellowed in happiness as we rounded the corner.

While we turned that corner, the upper half of a man's torso, shoulders, neck and head towering over every other person in the airport caught my eye. Not that he would be hard to miss seeing as he was so _tall_. And he was standing next to a man in a wheelchair. Without even thinking about it, I instantly knew the timeless man in the wheelchair was Billy Black. Then, as if I knew this my entire life, I suddenly knew without a shadow of a doubt that the giant-like man – no, boy I realized after a second glance – was Billy's son Jacob, my supposed best friend. "Jacob!" I found myself calling out enthusiastically.

Jacob's thick lips turned up into an enormous grin as he began pushing his father's chair in the direction of us, almost in a half-sprint. If it weren't for my leg and Charlie's restraining arm I would have ran to him as well. Something about him seemed so familiar and it just made me want to wrap my arms around him. But before I could even finish this thought, he was suddenly in front of us, getting there inhumanly fast, and pushing Charlie out of his way. "Bella!" he nearly shouted in my ear as he leaned down and encompassed my small body within his huge arms.

Feeling the warmth of his skin and the emotions throughout this hug I knew I belonged here. Not here in an airport in Forks, Washington. But here in Forks with Jacob and Billy, Charlie and all my friends, and Edward. This was my home and there was nothing anyone could do to make me leave again. "It is unbelievably amazing to see you, Jake."

He pulled back, that huge grin still spread wide over his teeth, and kept his hands on my shoulders while saying, "God, I can't believe it took you this long to come back, Bella."

"Yeah, well," I began nonchalantly. "You know me. I don't like confrontation. And that's what I get when I had to tell my mom I wanted to come back." As I finished, I turned my expression on my dad and narrowed my eyes at him. He made a point of looking down at Billy and shaking his hand, saying something inane I'm sure just to avoid my death glare. _I know where you live,_ I thought menacingly to myself.

"I'm just glad you're back," he said as he lounged forward yet again, knocking the wind out of me when his grip got tighter around my torso.

He had my entire face pressed up again his chest and I couldn't breathe anymore – and I felt like I was getting sunburned all at once. "Can't…breathe…Jake," I sputtered out breathlessly.

"Oh," he gasped while pulling away in one quick motion. His russet cheeks turned an even darker color from embarrassment and he said, "Sorry, Bell. Guess I just forgot my own strength."

"Ha ha," I mocked him while playfully smacking his muscular shoulder. "And why are you so hot?" I asked him curiously. He seriously felt like he just came out of the oven, or like someone had just been making a stew out of him.

Instead of answering me, he turned his eyes from my face and scanned the floor. "Baggage claim this way," he jabbed his thumb to the left, indicating where we were supposed to go. And following his own finger, Jacob marched off, his shoulder tense for some unknown reason.

"What's with him?" I asked, turning my full attention to Billy for the first time.

"Who knows?" Billy shrugged this off, only it made me even more suspicious. "Teenagers," was his explanation before Charlie pushed him forward after his son, leaving me behind with a weird case of déjà vu.

**Edward Cullen (POV)**

When I walked into the cafeteria that day, I just stood in the entrance for a moment, letting out an exasperated sigh. The rest of my family was already conversing amongst themselves at our regular table. I didn't really have the patience to sit with them, therefore I walked over to an empty table in the corner of the cafeteria and sat down heavily.

The mood of everyone's thoughts contrasted with that of my own dramatically. Everybody was happy that they were with their friends and their laughter was almost deafening to my ears. My high mood from the morning had dwindled down as I remembered – as if I could ever forgot – my Bella wasn't here. I knew it was possible she could come back. That's what kept me going: the small fragment of hope. But right now, sitting at the table I just realized were Bella and mine, my heart was sinking.

As I sat there alone I heard a familiar and somewhat annoying voice pop into my head. Sometimes I really wish I can't real people's minds. _He looks so lonely. I bet he misses Bella. She can't remember him, which is just downright depressing. I wonder why he isn't sitting with his family. Maybe Bella was right; he doesn't look so intimidating, especially by himself. And he's really nice, too. _"Hi, Edward," Jessica's nervous voice spoke from behind me. I was too busy listening to her thoughts to notice that she had walked over to my table.

I lifted my head and looked at her. "Hello, Jessica. How are you?" I asked politely.

She shuffled her feet nervously before batting her eyes and saying, "I'm okay, I guess. Mike is such a jerk."

I snorted despite my best efforts. She may have voiced the fact – and might I add truth – that Newton was a jerk. But her thoughts betrayed her mouth. She was upset by what she learned this morning, that Mike was using her. But she still liked him immensely and was hoping he would see the errors of his way and like her for real. But until then, she needs a date to the prom. My eyes grew wide as I registered her last thought and _true_ motivation for coming over to see me. "Yes," I finally managed to say. "He is nothing compared to Bella."

With my sensitive ears I heard Jessica swallow loudly. "Yeah, Bella is something, isn't she?" _I don't want to be thinking about Bella. She isn't even here to have him anymore._

I had to twine my fingers tightly together to keep my emotions under control. This was the last thing I needed at the moment, especially from Jessica Stanley. "So…" I prompted her. "What brings you over here during lunch instead of sitting with your friends?"

"Can I?" she asked while gesturing to the open seat next to me. I nodded my approval briskly, only wanting to be polite, as she sat down and crossed one leg over the other, flipping her hair and batting her eyes in the process. "Well, I wanted to thank you for this morning. It was nice of you to tell me about Mike, you know, so I wouldn't have a jerk for my prom date."

"Of course," I responded. I turned my head, pretending to be scanning the cafeteria, but really I was finding my family. As suspected they were all staring at me with a strange expression coloring their pale features. _What are you doing, Edward? _Rosalie was thinking. _Edward seems pretty uncomfortable. I wonder what Jessica wants? _Jasper was pondering. _Goodness! You're taking her to prom, Edward?_ Alice's thoughts were nearly a shout. _That stud! _Emmett had me rolling my eyes at him. I turned my head back to Jessica to make sure she thought I was interested in her meaningless words. "It was no problem."

Jessica slid three quarters of an inch toward me in her chair, a movement no other human would be able to notice, and it had me moving back two inches. "Not many guys would do that, though. You're a really nice boy, Edward."

I smiled a tight smile at her as she moved another half inch closer. What was her problem? "Well, yes. Bella has told me that once or twice before." It was better to keep mentioning Bella; maybe Jessica would get the hint that I still loved Bella and always would.

_I'm so much better than Bella,_ Jessica was thinking stubbornly to herself. I was so close to losing it and yelling at her that she _so_ was not better that my Bella – not even close to my Bella. How could she even think such a thought? "Well, I was wondering," Jessica began slowly.

I had to stifle a groan. This wasn't what I wanted in the least bit. I was beginning to hate Jessica Stanley. "Since I don't have a date to prom anymore," she continued as if she didn't notice the frozen and carefully poised expression of my face, "and Bella isn't here anymore…"

"What do you propose?" I mused her forward. There really was no way around this dreadful moment anymore.

She blushed at my use of the word _propose_ and finished her thought, "If we should go to prom together?"

Unfortunately for me, there really was no good decline to this offer. She was right about one thing: Bella wasn't here anymore. So why did I feel the need to run away from the girl sitting next to me? "It really wouldn't be fair to lead you on like that, though, Jessica. I'm still in love with Bella and I don't think I will or could ever stop, no matter what part of the country she resides in."

Jessica fumbled with her fingers, picking absently at the chipped nail polish coloring the tips of the nails. "It would only be for convenience I assure you. Just as friends. Come on, Eddie," she bumped her shoulder to mine in a friendly manner and I cringed away from the touch.

"It's Edward," I hissed. I never meant to sound menacing and harsh, but I hated when anyone called me Eddie, that just wasn't my name. Especially coming from Jessica, someone who before today had never uttered a word to me.

She twirled a strand of hair around her finger and said innocently, "Sorry."

Hearing her thoughts I knew she wasn't truly sorry, but I knew I was about to cave and give her what she wanted. Not that I would like this one bit. "Alright. But we're only going as friends, I'm just your arm candy."

She clapped her hands together in a very Alice-esque manner and let out a girl shriek of delight. "Oh, thank you, Edward!" she gushed. "You won't regret this one bit. Bye!" And with that she skipped off to her table of friends where I overheard her bragging about what just transpired between the two of us. Mike's enraged thoughts echoed throughout my head as if they were my own thoughts – fury, jealousy and the best of all, self-humiliation.

"What are you doing?" Rosalie hissed in my ear as her and the rest of my siblings took seats around me. "I thought Bella was you're _one and only love_? What's the matter with you?"

"Rose, be nice," Jasper spoke up before I had a chance. "He feels bad as it is."

"Not even close to that," I mumbled more to myself than to my family.

Alice nudged me lightly with her elbow, trying to get my attention. When I looked at her, she opened her mind to me and spoke through her thoughts, _You are going to regret this._

"What is that supposed to mean, Alice?" I barked at her. I was getting tired of all the evasiveness.

_Just trust me on this one,_ she silently informed me. _You should be free on prom. You shouldn't take someone else – especially Jessica Stanley!_

"What other choice do I have left?" I turned on her. "Bella is gone. And like you all said, it's about time I started to live the rest of my forever without her. It's as simple as that." Before anyone else could try and tell me otherwise, I rose from my chair and addressed everyone. "I think I'll just skip the rest of the day and go hunt. Clear my head, you know?"

As I was exiting the large cafeteria, I heard Emmett lean into the table and say in a whisper that he knew I could still hear, "Simple? How about impossible."

I sighed heavily, hopefully drowning out Rosalie's next comment only it didn't work. "I can't believe I was so against this to begin with, but he and Bella are perfect for each other. When she gets back – because I know she will eventually, no one can just leave our Edward no matter how little they remember – I'm going to let her know how stupid she's been. She's breaking his heart and she doesn't even know it."

"Oh she knows it," Alice responded, making everyone's thoughts, including my own, say the same thing: _What does she know that I don't?_ "But, Rose, you know telling Bella off is not the right thing to do. She has to remember Edward on her own, and it won't help for you to yell at her for something she can't remember."

"Alice is right," Jasper cut in before Rosalie could respond. "Bella will remember in time. Her memories are so far within her that it's hard for her to reach them. Seeing as our secret is so surreal for any human to withhold, it doesn't surprise me that her amnesia is this bad. Everything she felt when she first found out – love, fear, confusion, embarrassment, lies, comfort, and more fear – her body doesn't want to experience that again and its blocking her out. But Bella is a fighter; she'll do everything she can to remember. I could tell when she was here before she left how desperately she wanted to win her inner battle against her shielded mind. Everything will end well with Edward and Bella…I hope."

"Let's hope so," Emmett said, jerking his chin forward toward the cafeteria wall of windows where I was casually leaning against to hear everything they were saying. _She'll remember and come back, Edward, _Emmett was thinking reassuringly to me. _You know as well as I do that she can't live her life without my witty insults._

I couldn't help but laughing while I pushed myself off the wall and strode toward the forest that was adjacent to the school. As I was walking, I could both hear and feel all three turn on Emmett and arch their eyebrows at him, all asking at the same time, "What made Edward laugh?"

Emmett just shrugged his shoulders and said in a fading away voice, "Brotherly stuff. You guys wouldn't understand." Rosalie pushed Emmett's shoulder, Jasper kissed Alice's cheek briskly and the wind changed dramatically, bringing along a sweet aroma that I knew I must have imagined.

**Bella Swan (POV)**

I never thought Charlie's small, cramped house would feel as comforting and inviting as it was the moment I stepped over the threshold. "Home sweet home," Charlie had declared when he shut the door behind me. Those words never had such a literal meaning before. I was home.

I stood there in the foyer taking everything in. I remembered the first time I move here; the feeling of despair and stupidity clouded my aura heavily. But now, as the house – and the town itself – lay before me, relief was the only emotion present.

My crutches were resting next to the coat hook where Charlie put them and all my bags were up in my room. As soon as I got my head clear, I clunked into the kitchen to prepare a late lunch. Much to my disappointment – or suspicion – the fridge only had a half-gallon of milk, three pieces of moldy bread, a box of pizza crust, and Chinese take-out boxes. The cupboards held crackers and pretzels and potato chips. Nothing in the kitchen was remotely suitable for a residential rat let alone a proper meal.

Charlie cam in after my discovery, stomach grumbling and lips smiling. I had a feeling his stomach had been grumbling since the moment he lost sight of my in the terminal almost two and a half weeks before. "What is this" I demanded while holding out the disgusting bread.

"Oops," was his remark as his smile faded into one of innocence. "Forgot to go shopping to pretend I was taking care of myself."

I exhaled loudly and threw the bread into the overflowing garbage barrel. "Charlie," I groaned out his name.

"What?" he feigned innocence as he walked over to the garbage and pulled out the bag, tying a tight knot at the top.

"I'm going to the store," I announced as I snatched my keys off the counter. "Thanks for not getting rid of my truck."

"Of I did that," he began, his voice getting hoarse, "then you really would have been gone."

I twirled the key ring around my finger and said, "I'm really sorry I left, Dad. It was childish and I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Bells," he waved me off. "What matters is that you're here now."

I smiled warmly at him and knew I was completely forgiven. I then waved my goodbye and walked out to my truck, thankful again that my leg cast was waterproof.

The truck roared to life and the sound was so comforting that I nearly erupted in elation. I didn't realize how much I missed my truck until this moment.

The grocery store was a little ways down from Fork High School, my former and current school. School was still in progress and no one was on the picnic benches since it was drizzling out, so I knew I wouldn't see anyone.

Strangely, I couldn't wait to start school on Monday, a mere two days from now. I knew there would be people in that school who would be happy to see me back. As opposed to Jacksonville High School where I knew no one noticed my absence in the student body population.

As I was just thinking about the one person that I wanted to see most, he came into view. I slowed my truck a little and was thankful it was being quiet for once. Edward was pushing himself off the wall and walking toward the forest. I found it odd that he wasn't heading to his Volvo (I was ashamed I remember the type of car he drove since I knew nothing about cars, but couldn't remember him).

When he reached the forest edge, he glanced over his right shoulder to the school and then before I could register what happened he was gone. I blinked furiously, trying to reason how that could have happened but I was drawing a blank. More of a mystery.

Before I could crash my truck and leave a trail of devastation, I cleared my head and tried to forget about Edward's face, a task that seemed impossible.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Remembrance**

**Bella Swan**

The weekend was peaceful and quiet, something I enjoyed greatly. I had to call Renée often because she apparently missed me so much. The conversations were nice and I enjoyed this relationship better than the one I had with her when I had moved back. At least I could talk to her now.

Obviously I fell back into the routine of cooking dinner for Charlie and myself. He was grateful for real food again and I was grateful that he was eating nutritional things once again. How I ever thought he would handle himself without me I wasn't sure.

Nervous about my first day back, I arrived to school before everyone else. My truck was the first in the parking lot, looking lonely all by itself. Since I was so early, I decided to head to the office in order to get my old schedule back. I was greeted warmly and wished good luck on my second time around in Forks. I needed the good luck.

"Bella!"

When I looked up from the book I was reading, sure enough Jessica was running full steam in my direction. Faster than I expected, she was in front of me, throwing her arms around my neck in a bare hug. "I'm can't believe you're back! Why didn't you tell me?" she shrieked in my ear.

"I dunno," I mumbled, trying to breathe through the hug. "I wanted it to be a surprise."

She pulled away and sat next to me, looping her arm through mine. "Well, it certainly was. I can't believe it! I'm so happy!" She sounded more than happy; she sounded almost giddy.

"What are you doing here so early anyway?" Glancing around, I realized that there still were minimal people arriving, many of them glancing my way with curious expressions on their faces. They were probably all wondering what possessed my to move to Forks, move to Florida, then move back to Forks. I was hoping this would be my last move for a while.

She nearly gasped in horror, something that was unrelated to my question I'm sure. "Oh, Bella! You're going to just hate me."

I raised an eyebrow at her curiously. Why would I hate her already? I just got back. "What are you talking about?"

She unhooked her arm from mine and slid over a little on the bench. "Edward Cullen and I are going to prom together," she informed me while biting her lip guiltily.

Even though I knew there was nothing going on between Edward and I at the moment, the thought of Jessica and Edward going together made me furious. I cold feel a green ogre of jealousy building inside of me. How could she do this to me? How could he do this to me? How was this happening to me? "What?" I practically hissed. My tone was supposed to sound nonchalant, like I didn't care. Only to my horror it sounded as angry as I felt.

She bit down harder on her lip, fake tears brimming her eyes. "I knew it! Oh, Bella, it was the most awful thing. Edward told me Mike was only going with me so he could have a date and that he didn't even care about me. I was so upset, that I asked Edward if we could go as friends since we both no longer had dates. I should have asked you. I know you two had a thing. Please, please, don't hate me."

_Okay, so we had a thing. Good to know._ I took a deep breath and steadied myself. "Don't worry about it, Jess. Edward and I aren't together anymore, not that I even remember us ever being together. Tell me how prom goes."

"You aren't going?" she practically gasped. It was as if I told her I didn't have a beating heart anymore.

I shrugged and stood up, putting my backpack on my back. "Who is there to go with? And with this leg?" I held out my casted leg for evidence. "Not worth it."

"Where are you going?" she asked innocently.

_Away from you_, I almost said but bit my tongue. "I'm going to talk to my gym teacher," I lied. Like I was going to the gym when I didn't have to? "I can't play gym so I was wondering what I should do during that class."

"Did you get your old schedule back?" she asked hopefully.

I sighed and said, "Yup."

She clapped her hands together merrily and bounced up from her seat. "I'll come with you then."

I didn't feel like having company at the moment after what she had just informed me of. Just when I was about to cave and tell her to follow, I saw a silver Volvo speed into the lot and into a spot with ease. "There's your date. Why don't you go bother-I mean, say hi to him?"

She glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Edward get out of the driver's side of his car. She beamed with delight, making me realize that she really didn't care about my feelings on the Edward-issue. I walked away as quickly as my cast would allow of me, leaving Jessica behind.

**Edward Cullen**

When I got out of the car, the air was warm and filled with a floral scent. I couldn't place the smell, but it made me mouth water instantly. I glanced at Jasper who was closest to me and asked softly, "Do you smell something?"

"Yeah," he replied, automatically tensing up from the close contact of humans, "blood."

I laughed and clapped his shoulder. When I looked over at the school entrance, Jessica was waving like a madman in my direction. A girl had turned away from her and was hobbling away, a girl who looked strangely like-No, don't hallucinate now.

Alice joined me, her face contorted into one of disgust. _How could you have agreed to take that to prom?_ She was asking me in horror in her mind. _Smells nice out today_, she added as an after thought.

I smiled at her and walked toward Jessica. "Hello, Jessica," I greeted her cordially, hoping I could get away form her without a conversation that would surely drop my conversation.

"Hi, Edward," she gushed merrily. "How was your weekend?"

_Darn._ "It was very well, thank you. I presume yours was nice as well?"

She fell into stride next to me, having to take longer steps to keep up with my long legs. "It was fine. But it got even better this morning. Oh, I just still can't _believe_ it!"

Her happiness sparked my curiosity and I asked her, "And what happened this morning that was so pleasant?"

We were inside the confines of building one now. But before Jessica could answer, I already knew what she was going to say. The smell hit me like a ton of bricks. How could I not have noticed it before? The sight of my love made my still heart flutter with happiness. I never thought I could be as happy as I was at this exact moment. "Bella's here!" she chirped excitedly.

At the sound of her name, Bella turned around in her desk warily. Her eyes locked with mine. I noticed hers were filled with moisture. It was selfish of me, but I hoped those tears weren't the doings of me. I hoped she would be happy to see me. "Hello, Bella," I called across the room at a volume I knew she could hear.

Her lips pulled up into a reluctant smile and she replied, "Edward." My name meant more that what it really was coming from her lips. There was pain embedded behind the strand of letters.

Before I could read more into it, she turned back around just as Angela approached Bella's desk, giving her a tender 'welcome back' hug. They exchanged small pleasantries and then Angela asked her why she looked so glum. "Edward is going to prom with Jessica," she admitted in a whisper. No! So Bella _was_ upset that I am taking Jessica to the prom. How was I supposed to know that Bella would return?

"Did you hear me, Edward?"

I snapped my head back toward Jessica, the cause of my love's heartache and scowled at her. "I told you she would be upset," I snapped. There was no way to could stay friendly with someone who forced me to cause Bella pain.

Her eyes widened in shock at my words. "I talked to her this morning. That was the first thing I mentioned. She's fine with me."

"Explain to me that," I retorted, painting in the direction of Bella. Her shoulders were shaking, her hands covering her face, and Angela was rubbing circles on her back in a soothing manner. I felt like the lowest of scum, even lower than Newton.

Jessica rushed over toward Bella's desk and apologized profusely. Bella tried to deny the fact that she cared, but everyone knew that she did. I couldn't figure out why she cared so much though. We weren't together in her eyes, nor had we ever been. But then Bella said, "Just because I can't remember everything that there was between Edward and I, means you have to steal him away from me? How cold can you be, Jessica?"

"I didn't mean to, Bella!" Jessica defended herself. _Please_. "We're just going as friends." _I need him to get noticed at prom. I mean, it's not like I care about him. He's just _really_ hot. All eyes on my at prom…_ I wanted to slap that girl for using me so.

Bella stood up abruptly and pointed her finger at Jessica menacingly. "The hell you are! I know you just want to go with Edward because you want all eyes on you at prom. He's not a toy, Jessica, he's a person. A really kind person. Stay away from my Edward."

My Edward? Really? Were my ears deceiving me or was I hearing Bella correctly? "Your Edward? That's why you dumped him?" Jessica retorted, a hand on her hip.

Bella placed both hands on her hips and said, "I never dumped anyone. I got _amnesia_!" As if she were just realizing something for the first time, she spoke slowly, making sure she believed the words herself. "And just because I can't remember anything, I know I love him. You aren't going to prom with Edward."

What?! I was stupefied, standing by the entrance watching the scene unfold. Bella loves me? In present tense? "You can't decide that. It's Edward's choice." Jessica then turned and looked at me, beckoning me toward them. I walked slowly, only want to stay away form this situation, but I had to be closer to Bella.

When I was standing between them, closer to Bella than Jessica, Bella's cheeks blushed a crimson red. She must have forgotten I was still here to hear everything she said. "Tell Bella we're going to prom together," Jessica commanded me, brushing her fingertips up the length of my forearm (which was covered with a thick sweater).

I looked into Bella's eyes and wanted to call Jessica a liar. But then I would be lying to Bella and I couldn't do that. "I did inform her that we could go to the prom together, that fact is true. But only as friends. Bella, this I swear to you." Then I lowered my voice so soft that I knew no one would hear me and said, "I love you with all my heart."

"Me too," she replied quickly with a smile, unthinkingly it appeared.

"You too, what?" Jessica snapped. Apparently no one did hear me, but Bella knew I had said it to her. That had to mean something, didn't it?

I slid my arm around Bella's waist and she shivered from the cold of my touch but otherwise was unaffected. She seemed perfectly at ease with my body temperature. "I'm sorry, Jessica, for the inconvenience, but now that Bella has returned, I'm afraid I cannot attend prom with you. My apologies."

"You jerk!" she bellowed, making a few other students to turn their attention toward us.

Bella rested her head on my shoulder and said annoyedly, "Oh, quiet, Jess. Not like you can't get a date or anything. Sorry we foiled your plan for mass attention."

Jessica gasped in horror and stormed toward the back of the room. the bell rang just then and I reluctantly let go of my love. She smiled up at me and whispered, "We'll talk during Biology?"

"Of course, my love," I replied, planting a soft kiss on the top of her head. I then swiftly left the room, knowing everything would work out well.

**Bella Swan**

Did that seriously just happen? Did I say I love Edward Cullen, stand up to Jessica, and forbid her from going to prom with Edward? Once I realized it, I knew I did love him. Even if I could hardly remember anything, I knew I did. There was something hardwired in my spirit that knew I was meant to love him. I just couldn't figure out how I could forget that. Now to remember our history…

My classes went by in a blur. Friends and fellow classmates welcomed me back with open arms, a confidence booster as opposed to in Jacksonville. I sat at Jessica's table during lunch and everyone but Lauren seemed ecstatic to have that extra chair vacated once again. Jessica didn't say a word to me.

Even when I looked for him, he wasn't there. I had no idea where he was, but Edward wasn't in the cafeteria during lunch. Neither was his family members, people I surprisingly was eager to see. As soon as it as time to go to Biology, Angela had to practically hold me down so I didn't run to class. I wanted to see Edward _badly_. I don't think this is healthy.

With my eagerness, Angela, Mike, and I were the first group of kids in the room. Even the teacher wasn't there. I sat at my old table, waiting for Edward's arrival. I was beginning to worry that he wouldn't show when more and more kids that weren't him filtered through the door. But then his handsome face graced our presence and he arrived, slipping into the chair next to mine. "Hello again," he said. He almost sounded shy.

"It's wonderful to see you," I greeted him lamely, hotness filling my cheeks.

Edward brushed away the curtain of hair hiding my face form him and left his hand on the back of my neck. "As it is to see you." His smile touched his eyes.

We remained like that for a minute, Edward's hand on the back of my neck staring into each other's eyes. When I couldn't hold his gaze anymore, I diverted my eyes and Edward moved away form me. "You were brave this morning. I thought Jessica would eat you alive."

I laughed nervously and began doodling on an empty sheet of paper; all my drawings were hearts. "She doesn't make me nervous."

"What does make you nervous?" he asked softly. I could feel his gaze boring into my head.

I placed my pencil down, began stroking the gauze that I stupidly hadn't removed and began humming that unfamiliar yet familiar melody. Edward seemed to tense up like the first time I hummed it in front of him, something that made me curious as to what he knew about. "You," I replied through hums.

We fell silent again and I wondered where our teacher went. "Why haven't you removed that? It's been weeks since your accident."

"Hmm? Oh, this?" I asked, indicating my gauze. He nodded his head and I pondered over my answer. There really was no answer other than I was scared. "This is going to sound lame, but I'm scared. It's probably just stitches or something, but I don't know. I'm nervous to find out what I did to it."

He looked deep into my eyes, seemingly seeing into my soul, and informed me quietly, "It doesn't sound lame in the least"

I blushed at his tender words and looked down. "Will you help me take it off?" I didn't know I was going to say that, but I knew I wanted it. He was the only person I wanted to comfort me from the things I was afraid of. I loved him after all.

"Are you sure?" He sounded just as surprised as I was.

"Absolutely," I smiled at him to get across my point.

He breathed in deeply and nodded his head. "I would be pleased to aide you, Bella."

I smiled and stroked the gauze yet again. I then placed my finger and thumb on the medical tape that held it in place and took a deep breath. "No fears, my love, I am here," he was saying beside me. I loved when he called me 'my love.'

With the assurance from Edward, I peeled back the tape and removed the gauze. Underneath it was anything but stitches. It was a crescent shaped wound that looked like someone's teeth. Edward seemed to stop breathing beside me. I touched the crescent and began saying, "I wonder what it is," before a surge of memories hit me.

_My first day in Forks with Charlie._

_My first day in school when I met all my new and wonderful friends._

_The first time that I got the full impact of Edward's beauty._

_The first day in Biology when Edward looked as if he were about to eat me._

_The first time I say Jacob Black at the beach._

_The first time I found out what Edward really was._

_The first time I shared a kiss with Edward._

_The first moment I realized I was in love with Edward Masen Cullen._

_The last moment I saw Edward when he was sucking the venom from my veins, saving my life form James. Edward's lips were the last to have touched my flesh, making this scar dedicated to him._

I opened my eyes with my memory back. The man sitting next to me, the man who looked as if he were in so much pain, the man I had forgotten all this time, is a vampire. I didn't know how I could ever have forgotten about Edward. I must have put him through so much pain. I had left him, I had moved to a sunny place where he couldn't follow. He must have been so crushed when I woke up in the hospital and didn't know who he was. I had hurt him more than any person should be hurt.

I placed my hand on his cheek, startling him but the sudden move of affection. My touch was tender and I tried to convey all my feelings with one touch. Words weren't enough, I said in a tender whisper, "I love you, my heroic vampire."

His eyes flickered to mine and were filled with surprise. "What did you say?" he asked, his throat thick with disbelief.

"I'm so sorry for everything, Edward." Where was the teacher? It was almost five minutes after the bell had rung and he still hadn't arrived. "I don't know how I could have forgotten anything, especially after everything we went through. You must hate me for that."

I grabbed my wrist in rough passion and pressed my warm hand into his face farther. "How could I ever hate you, love? You are everything I have been waiting for and more. I love you, Isobella Swan."

I smiled into his eyes and said, "That's nice to hear." And then I surged forward and kissed him passionately. Everything was right between us. I remembered everything and there were no barriers, aside from the slight problem of mortal-immortal relationship. We had our obstacles, but we were together.

Edward's mouth was rough on mine as he savored the moment. I couldn't believe I could ever forget about him, but apparently I could. But I knew our love could conquer all. I would love Edward until the end, whatever the end was. We were starting from the beginning, and I was pleased to know that. Edward would always be mine.

As I was his.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I was getting kind of tired of this story and I'm writing so many other stories that I decided to end this short. Hope it doesn't disappoint people. Thanks for reviewing everyone. Love you guys!! _P.S. It's my birthday today, so if you could review and make me happier (since it was somewhat of a crappy birthday) that would be sooooo wonderful of you all. Thanks!! :)_


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